Found
by luvuni
Summary: It was just a regular day for Sam and Dean, when suddenly a special person shows up out of nowhere and changes their lives forever. Sis-Fic! Lots of angst, and brotherly love. Follows the season 1 story line. Warnings for Depression, and Suicidal Thoughts in later chapters / future sequels.
1. Prologue - Alexandra MJW

**Author's Note: Hi guys. Here is another typical Supernatural sis-fic. I know there are lots of them out there, but I felt like writing one. Please no negative reviews. I'm not a very good writer, and I'm simply writing this to satisfy my need for emotional Sam/Dean/Sister moments. Lots of angst, chick-flick moments, and more to come. Thanks. :)**

Prologue: Alexandra Mary-Janette Winchester

The boys had just finished up the case with the shapeshifter in Missouri, and were camped out in a motel in the middle of nowhere. Dean was leaning against the headboard of his bed, flipping through the crappy channels their motel offered on the television. Nothing but a few old western films and the news was on, yet he flipped through the channels in utter boredom.

Sam on the other hand was sitting at the small table in the corner of the room, looking through the news on his laptop, trying to find a new case for them to check out. There was an interesting one in Ankey, Iowa, where a teenage boy was murdered, leaving only the girlfriend alive. Apparently his body was strung up next to the vehicle, and the girl was claiming the killer was invisible. Perhaps this was something they should look into. Just as he was about to open his mouth to mention it to his brother, Dean's phone rang.

The older boy picked up his cell, frowning when he saw it was a private number. Flipping open the phone, he held it up to his ear. "Hello?" he stated gruffly.

"Dean?" a painfully familiar voice came through the line.

"Dad!" Dean exclaimed, sitting forward on the bed. Immediately, Sam stood up and sat next to his brother so that he could hear the conversation. "Where are you?"

"It doesn't matter," his dad's voice said impatiently. "Look, there's someone on their way to your hotel room, and they'll explain the whole situation to you. I don't have a lot of time, but I just want to apologize beforehand for keeping such a large secret from you boys for so long."

"What secret? What's going on dad?" Dead asked, eyebrows furrowed together in confusion and frustration. "Who's coming?"

"I need to go, but please understand that I did what I thought was best. Take care of each other," their father said, a tone of finality in his voice.

"Wait! Da-" the line went dead, and Dean cussed as he closed his phone.

"Who's coming here?" Sam questioned, standing up to pace the length of the room.

"No idea. We haven't heard from him in how long, and he just fires off with an apology? Something's not right."

"He's always so secretive about stuff that we need to know," Sam ran a hand through his hair before shaking his head. "I'm so tired of him treating us like an afterthought."

Dean wanted to argue, but even he was frustrated with his father. All this time wondering if the man was even alive, countless calls and messages, and then he calls just for that? Leaning back against the headboard, he sighed loudly. As he opened his mouth to say something, a knock sounded on the door. Looking at Sam, he sat up. "That was quick."

"Very," Sam agreed, as the two boys moved to the door. Dean pulled it open, Sam right behind him, and they both froze at the sight of the person in front of them.

It was a young girl, no higher than 4 feet tall. Her hair was a warm brown, and fell to the middle of her back in loose ringlets. Big blue eyes stared up at them as she smiled widely. "Dean! Sam!" she exclaimed in a voice like bells. The boys jolted at the kid knowing their names.

"Uh, yeah. Who are you, kid?" Dean asked, eyebrow lifting in curiosity. Why would their father send a child to their room?

"My name is Alexandra Mary-Janette Winchester, and I'm your sister!" she said happily, as if this wasn't the strangest thing that ever happened. "Well, half-sister, I guess."

The two boys stared at the kid as if she had three heads. Their brains tried to process what the kid had just said, but they seemed to take a long time to buffer. Shrugging, the girl walked past them and put her suitcase and backpack on the ground. Dean shook his head, as if trying to clear his brain out, and shut the door. Both Sam and Dean walked in, the elder leaned against the wall, while Sam sat to the table.

The girl, Alexandra, reached into her pink backpack and pulled out an envelope. "This is for you guys to read and discuss later after I tell you everything! It's from our Daddy." She handed the envelope to Sam, smiling shyly up at him.

"John Winchester is your father?" Dean asked bluntly, looking at the girl's face. He could almost pick out his father's features in the girl. She had a strikingly similar appearance to Sam, who looked like their father.

The kid nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, he met my mommy about 12 years ago, and I'm 8 now. He would visit me a few times every year, and he would tell me stories about you two! I'm so happy to finally meet my big brothers!"

The two brothers still looked shell shocked, trying to take it all in. "Do you know what Dad does for a job?"

A loud laugh rung through the motel room, as the kid covered her mouth and smiled up at Dean. "Of course, he's a hunter. I've been raised as a hunter by my mom; Dad says I'm a better shot than the both of you!"

"Wait, he let you be raised as a hunter?" Sam sounded horrified at the very idea of someone training such a cute, innocent looking kid to hunt ghosts and monsters.

"Oh yes. I've been trained in hand-to-hand combat, I can shoot, I can throw knives, I know all about the different monsters and how to kill them. They just haven't let me hunt yet, so I've never actually killed anything. Mommy passed away a few days ago, and Dad sent me here to find you two. He said I'm ready to start hunting!" Her face had saddened when she spoke of her mother, but the girl appeared to brush it off and smiled up at them.

Dean ran a hand over his face as Sam gapped at the kid. "So what, we're supposed to take you with us from here on?"

The kid's smile fell at the sharp tone to Dean's voice. A blush tinted her cheeks, and Sam sent a harsh look at his brother. "Well, Daddy says that's up to you both. You don't have to take me with you if you don't want to. He said that if you didn't want me, I can go live with one of his friends." She looked down at her shoes, which Dean didn't fail to notice were combat boots.

A loud sigh escaped Dean as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Fine, you can stay with us for now, and we'll see how things go."

A wide grin lit up the girl's face, and the boys couldn't help but give small smiles back. The kid was ridiculously adorable. "Thank you so much!" she squeeled. "I promise I'll behave, and I won't cause any trouble." The kid looked like she wanted to hug them, but she stepped back and grabbed her backpack.

Sam smiled down at the girl and ruffled her hair gently. "It's really late, why don't you go get ready for bed and we'll talk more in the morning?"

"Ok," she positively gleamed when Sam ruffled her hair, before she turned and darted into the bathroom with her bag.

"Well that's... unexpected," Sam sighed, sitting down again as he opened the envelope. He cleared his throat before he began to read it aloud.

 _"Boys,_

 _Alexandra must have arrived safe and sound if you received this letter. She was born on April 10th, 1997. She's eight years old, and her mother's name was Janette Delaney. I met her on a hunting trip a long time ago, and we hit it off. Having a kid was never my intention, but I accepted it when it happened. Her mother has just passed away from a terminal cancer, and we had it arranged upon the diagnosis date that this be her future._

 _Alexandra has been raised from birth as a hunter, and her skills probably rival even that of yours. Only she is small and still easily over muscled, but I believe she is ready to head out into the field. I am sorry to put such responsibility on you both, but I believe you are up to the task. If not, then you can drop her off at Bobby's, and I will find another family for her to hunt with._

 _She has always known about you both, and it has been her biggest wish to finally meet you. She may cling to you both a bit, but establish boundaries if you would like, and she will comply._

 _Best of luck boys,_

 _John Winchester."_

"Not a very loving father-daughter relationship I guess," Sam commented, putting the letter down and looking up at Dean's stoic expression. "'she will comply.' Sounds kind of weird, huh?"

Dean almost felt a bit of pity for the kid. She must have been raised like a solider first and foremost. He couldn't fathom how his father could put a girl though such vigorous training in order to live a life of doing this dangerous work. It left a bad taste in his mouth.

The bathroom door opened, and the kid skipped out, still smiling but now dressed in bright pink pajamas that looked like a unicorn exploded on them. Going over to her suitcase, she opened it up and pulled out a sleeping bag. Dean and Sam watched her curiously as she spread it out on the motel room floor.

"Alexandra, what are you doing? Don't you want to sleep in a bed?" Sam asked curiously. There were two rather large beds in the room. Surely the little kid didn't need to sleep on the floor.

"Oh, you guys can just call me Lexi," she said with a smile. "And I'm used to sleeping in a sleeping bag. My mom and I travelled often, and we'd usually just sleep in the truck. You guys can take the beds."

Putting her pillow at the head of the sleeping bag, she crawled in and yawned widely. "Thank you for letting me stay," she said, the tiredness seeping into her voice.

"No problem, Lexi," Sam replied, smiling softly. He still felt funny about letting her sleep on the floor, but as he watched her curl up under the top cover of the sleeping bag, he decided to let it slide tonight.

"Well, today's been weird, so I'm gonna crash too," Dean said as he flopped down face first on the bed. Sam shook his head and smiled. Things were going to be different now.


	2. Hook Man

Chapter 1: Hook Man

The following morning, Sam woke up first. Stretching as he sat up, he was surprised to realize that he never had a nightmare about Jess. Perhaps that signified a bit of progress for him? Running a hand over his hair to smooth it down, he glanced over at Dean and smirked at the sight. Dean was passed out on his back, mouth gapping open and snoring softly. A little bit of drool escaped the corner of his mouth.

The sound of rustling caught his attention, and he stiffened before he looked down and remembered the events of yesterday. Curled up in the sleeping bag on the floor was the sister that they had just found out they had. The concept was so weird to Sam, having a sister who knew all about them, but here she was and they had never even heard mention of her. It also disturbed him that an 8-year-old was highly skilled in shooting and combat, and had a vast knowledge on how to defeat monsters. Their father sure had reached a new low this time.

Dean came too next, and his eyes immediately turned to look at the kid on the floor. He turned to look at Sam. "Is it bad to say I thought I dreamt that?" he said, rubbing his eyes wearily.

Sam chuckled softly. "It'll take some getting used to, but I believe everything will work out."

"I'm gonna go do a coffee run," Dean said, getting up and grabbing his bag before heading into the washroom to get ready for the day. Sighing, Sam lay back against the pillows, letting his mind wander.

xxx

"Alright, thank you for your time," Lexi heard Sam say as she woke up. The sound of a phone clasping shut followed. Opening her eyes, she saw Sam sitting down at the table, as Dean was sifting through a site on the laptop.

"Your, uh, half-caf, double vanilla latte is gettin' cold over here, Francis," Dean said, not even looking up from the screen.

"Bite me," Sam replied, but picked up his drink anyways and took a sip.

Sitting up, Lexi stretched her arms widely and grinned at the two boys. It was so amazing to finally meet her brothers, and she couldn't wait to get out into the field hunting with them.

"So, anything?" Dean asked, to which Sam just shook his head in response.

"I had them the FBI's Missing Persons Data Bank. No John Doe's fitting Dad's description. I even ran his plates for traffic violations."

"Sam, I'm telling you, I don't think Dad wants to be found. He left us with this new situation, and that's all we've got for now. So we gonna check out that mutilated body in Ankey?"

"Yeah, seems like a good case for us."

Lexi stood up and smiled when Sam looked at her. "Good morning," she said softly, bending over and grabbing her bag.

"Good morning Lexi," Sam grinned, finding her messy hair absolutely adorable.

"There's a breakfast sandwich for you there on the nightstand. Wasn't sure what you liked, but we can get you something else if you'd like," Dean commented, giving her a quick glance before looking back at the laptop.

"No, that's perfect, thank you," she replied, picking up the paper bag and sitting down on the chair in the corner as she quickly ate the sandwich. It was surprisingly good, and she gave Dean a thumbs up when he glanced over. She could have sworn the corner of his lip twitched before he turned back to face Sam.

Once she was finished, Lexi darted into the bathroom to brush out her hair until it cooperated, and changed into a pair of jeans and a red sweater. After she freshened up at the sink, she went back into the room and packed up all her stuff, as she saw Sam and Dean doing the same.

They guided her out to the parking lot, where they put her bags in the back of a Chevy Impala. "That is a wicked car!" she exclaimed in astonishment. "This is yours?"

"This is my baby," Dean said with pride as he closed up the trunk. The boys got into the front seats, while Lexi crawled into the back seat, sitting behind Sam in the passenger seat.

xxx

Dean pulled the car up at the Fraternity where Rich lived. The other frat brothers eyed Sam and Dean in confusion as they pulled up. "Stay here, and don't move," Dean said to Lexi, who nodded in response.

"One more time, why are we here?" Sam asked, as the two boys got out of the car.

"Victim lived here," Dean answered, as they walked towards some guys who were fixing a car. "Nice wheels. We're your fraternity brothers, from Ohio. We're new in town. Transfers, looking for a place to stay."

They were shown into the frat dorm room, where a shirtless boy in yellow shorts was painting his whole body purple. "Who are you?" the guy asked, hardly looking up from his painting job.

"We're your new roommates," Dean said, smiling as he walked over to the guy. He held out the brush and paint can to Dean.

"Do me a favor? Get my back. Big game today."

Dean pointed to Sam. "He's the artist. Things he can do with a brush."

Sam shot Dean a mortified look, as he took the can of paint and the brush, while the guy turned around. "So, Murph, is it true?"

The guy, Murph, looked up. "What?" he asked, clearly confused by the question.

"We heard one of the guys around here got killed last week."

"Yeah," the guy trailed off, looking sad at the mention of it.

"What happened?" Sam asked quietly, inviting the guy to talk about it.

"They're saying some psycho with a knife. Maybe a drifter passing through. Rich was a good guy."

"Rich, he was with somebody?" Sam asked, finishing up with the awkward paint job.

"Not just somebody. Lori Sorensen," Murph answered suggestively.

Dean's eyebrow raised. "Who's Lori Sorensen?" He turned to Sam. "You missed a spot. Just down there."

Sam shot Dean an annoyed look, who grinned back in response cheekily. Murph looked up at Dean. "Lori's a freshman. She's a local; super hot. And get this, she's a reverend's daughter."

"You wouldn't happen to know which church, would ya?"

xxx

When the boys got back to the Impala almost an hour later, they were pleasantly surprised to see that Lexi truly hadn't moved. She was sitting in the backseat, reading one of the books from her backpack. "Hey," she grinned, looking at them as they climbed into the front seats. "How'd it go?"

"Good, we're going to check out on a reverend's daughter, Lori, who was with Rich when he was murdered," Sam responded, looking over his shoulder at Lexi.

"This is so cool," Lexi said happily, as she dog-eared her book's page and shoved it back in her bag.

"Hunting is cool," Dean agreed, but looked at her through the rearview mirror. "But it is also incredibly dangerous, something that you should never forget."

"Yes, I know," she replied sheepishly. The remainder of the ride to the church was spent in awkward silence, both boys still not knowing what to say or how to act around the newest Winchester addition.

When they arrived at the church, the three of them walked into the large atrium where a service was happening. The door slammed behind them, causing everybody to turn around to stare at them. Lexi blushed, hiding behind Sam as they walked forward and sat in the back row. "So please, let us pray. For peace, for guidance, and for the power to protect our children," the reverend said in a loud voice, obviously ignoring their rude entrance. Everyone bowed their heads, Sam following in example, while elbowing Dean to do the same. Lexi lowered hers, and offered a quick prayer out to protect her brothers on this hunt.

At the end of the Mass, they headed outside and heard Lori, the reverend's daughter who had been sitting in one of the front rows. "I can't, it's Sunday night," Lori said to another girl.

"It's just us girls. We're gonna do tequila shots and watch Reality Bites."

"My dad makes dinner every Sunday night." In Lexi's opinion, that was a pretty poor excuse, but she shrugged it off. The girl did lose her boyfriend recently.

The girl looked at Lori pleadingly. "Come on, Lori. I know this has been hard, but you are allowed to have fun."

"I'll try..." The other girl rolled her eyes, but they hugged nonetheless before the other girl walked away.

We walked up. "Are you Lori?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," she responded, looking at them quizzically.

"My name is Sam, this is my brother Dean, and our sister Lexi." Dean and Lexi offered a small wave, the young girl smiling at being called their sister.

"We just transferred here to the university, and our sister is enrolling in elementary school."

"I saw you inside," she stated.

"We don't wanna bother you. We just heard about what happened and..."

"We wanted to say how sorry we were," Dean interrupted.

"I kind of know what you're going through. I... I saw someone get hurt once. It's something you don't forget." Lori nodded in response. Lexi turned when she spotted the Reverend walking up to them.

"Dad, um, this is Sam, Dean, and Lexi. They're new students," Lori said, while Dean shook the Reverend's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, sir. I must say, that was an inspiring sermon."

The Reverend smiled. "Thank you very much. It's so nice to find young people who are open to the Lord's message."

"Listen, uh, we're new in town, actually," Dean led the Reverend away from Sam and Lori, so Lexi stayed behind, more interested in the girl. She caught Dean mention something about looking for a church group, and she chuckled.

"Well, they don't have a lot to go on. I think they blame me for that," Lori said, continuing on their earlier topic.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked gently. Lexi smiled up encouragingly at the older girl.

"My story... I was so scared, I guess I was 'seeing things.'" Lexi's eyebrow quirked at that. She wondered if Lori had seen anything supernatural.

"That doesn't mean it wasn't real..." Sam drawled off, before Lori started listing off everything that had happened on that night.

xxx

Later, the three of them were in the Library, doing a bit of folklore research. "So you believe her?" Dean asked, after Sam had explained everything Lori had told them.

"I do," Sam responded.

"She sounded really sincere, and scared," Lexi added, taking a drink from her bottled water.

"I think she's hot, too," Dean said, winking at Sam.

Sam rolled his eyes. "No man, there's something in her eyes. And listen to this; she heard scratching on the roof. Found the bloody body suspended upside down over the car."

"Wait, the body suspended? That sounds like the-"

"Yeah, I know. The Hook Man legend." Lexi shivered. She had heard about the Hook Man in her studies on the kinds of monsters and spirits in the world.

"That's one of the most famous urban legends ever. You don't think that we're dealing with the Hook Man."

"Every urban legend has a source; a place where it all began."

"Yeah, but what about the phantom scratches and the tire punctures and the invisible killer?" Dean said, clearly disbelieving of the idea of the hook man.

"What if the Hook man is a spirit?" Lexi piped up, looking at the boys with wide eyes. It made sense to her that it would be a living thing after all, but rather a spirit that could disappear and reappear as it chooses.

"Better start doing some research..." Dean sighed, standing up to go talk to the librarian.

Within a few minutes, the Librarian placed a few large boxes in front of them on the table. "Here you go," she said. "Arrest records going back to 1851." Dean blew some of the dust off the top of the box, and coughed.

"Thanks," he said, pulling a box towards himself. The librarian nodded and walked away.

"So, this is how you spent four good years of your life, huh?" Dean asked Sam, as he flipped through one of the books.

"Welcome to higher education," Sam responded, as he too grabbed a book. Lexi reached in and pulled a thick documented journal out and began to flip through. The idea of reading through texts was pretty boring, but she knew this was all a part of the hunt, and that it couldn't all be fun...

xxx

"Hey, check this out!" Lexi said enthusiastically. "I think I found it. In 1862, a preacher named Jacob Karns was arrested for murder. It looks like he was so angry over the red-light district in town, that one night he killed 13 pro- prosti..." she trailed off, unsure of the word.

"Prostitutes," Sam smirked, ruffling her hair lightly. She cocked her head, about to ask what that meant. As if reading her mind, he added: "When you're older."

"Well, it says 'some of the deceased were found in their bed, sheets soaked with blood. Others suspended upside down from the limbs of trees as a warning against sins of the flesh.'" She looked up at her brothers expectantly.

"Good job kid," Dean said, before flipping through a few pages of a book. "Get this, the murder weapon? Looks like the preacher lost his hand in an accident. Had it replaced with a silver hook."

Sam peered over her shoulder at the book she was reading. "Look where all this happened."

"9 Mile Road," Dead read, as all the pieces suddenly clicked together.

"Same place where the frat boy was killed."

"Good find there Lexi. Let's check it out," Dean sounded impressed, and she smiled widely up at him. Sam gathered up all their research, and they left the library.

They headed out to 9 Mile Road. As Dean handed Sam a rifle, Lexi started fishing around in her back for her belt. Her supply belt was a gift from her father. In it was two guns, one with silver bullets, the other with rock salt. Also attached to the belt were two small daggers, one silver and one iron. Hooking it around her waist, she crawled out of the Impala and went to stand next to her brothers.

"Woah, where do you think you're going, shorty?" Dean said, halting her from walking any further by putting his arm out in front of her.

"I'm coming with you," she stated simply. This is what she had been trained her entire life for. No way they were going to hold her back now!

Sam and Dean shared a look, before turning their gazes back down to her. "Honey, you're still a little young to be included in the hunting portion of our job. It's gonna be dangerous," Sam said, crouching down next to her so that he could look her in the eyes.

"Please! I promise I'll stay out of your way! I might even be useful. I've been waiting for this for so long!" Her bottom lip pouted out, and she glanced up at her brothers with her wide blue eyes. Both boys sighed.

Running a hand over his face, Dean looked at her and pointed his finger at her. "Fine, you can come, but you stay close and behind either Sam or me. Do not, ever, wander off by yourself. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," she nodded, trying to keep the cheeky smile off her face.

"Don't call me sir," Dean shuddered. "I'm not dad." She nodded in understanding and watched as the boys started to head off into the bush. A noise met her ears, and she instantly ducked behind one of the trees, hand hovering above the weapons on her belt.

Sam raised his gun and looked around. "Over there, over there!" Dean pointed. Sam turned and cocked the gun, just as the sheriff walked out from the bushes.

"Put the gun down now! Now! Put your hands behind your head!" he shouted, pointing his own gun at her brothers. Cursing their luck, Lexi crouched down behind the trees.

"W-wait, okay, okay!" Dean stuttered out, as his hands went up behind his head and Sam dropped the gun.

"Now get down on your knees. Come on, do it! On your knees," he shouted, watching as the boys swiftly got on their knees. "Now get down on your bellies! Come on, do it!"

The boys lay down on their stomachs, and Lexi could only watch as the sheriff arrested her two brothers, leaving her alone in the dark. A little bit of panic began to settle in her as she stood up, and she walked back to the Impala. There was a spirit killer out there on the loose, and she was utterly alone. Trying to shake off the terror building, she took her belt and put it back in her backpack, before strapping the bag onto her back. She was going to have to walk back into town on her own, and find a way to get her brothers out of their conundrum.

xxx

It took a little over an hour for Lexi to find her way to the sheriff's department, where she was sure the boys were being held for the night in a cell. Her feet ached from the long hike, and her heart raced from the adrenaline of being scared of the hook man. It had taken her the full hour hike to figure out what she could do to get the boys out of their cells, and she struggled with the idea of having to fool the police, but that was all a part of being a hunter.

Walking through the front doors, she put on a scared, terrified face and ran up to the front desk in a panic. "Excuse me!" she said to the man sitting at the desk. He looked down at her, and stood up.

"What's wrong, kid? Are you all by yourself?" he asked, coming around the desk to stand in front of her.

"Y-yes," she stuttered, hoping her acting skills were up to par. "Me and my brothers were out in the woods, they were about to shoot a ghost hunting video for the internet, when a man came and arrested them. Where are my brothers?"

"Is that what those two kids were up to?" the man said, leaning back and running a hand over his face. "Wait over there and I'll speak to the sheriff."

"Thank you," she said quietly, and shuffled over to the chairs against the wall. Sitting down, she gave herself a mental pat on the back for a job well done. She just hoped it worked.

She was waiting for just over a half an hour, before Dean and Sam came through the doors walking towards her. "Dean! Sam!" she exclaimed happily, skipping up beside them.

"Ghost video, nice," Dean said with a smirk. "Did you get here ok?" He was obviously indicating to her dirty clothes from trudging through the dark.

"Yeah, it was a long walk, but at least I didn't get arrested," she said cheekily.

Sam smiled and reached down to pick her up, causing her to squeal and blush. It was her first time she'd been touched by either of the brothers, other than the odd hair ruffle. She'd really wanted to hug them, but her dad had warned her that it would take a while for them to warm up to her, and to give them some space. She smiled widely as Sam deposited her on his shoulders, as they walked out of the sheriff's department.

She held onto his shoulders, enjoying the ride at such a freakishly tall height. Dean looked up at them both, smiling warmly.

The nice moment was suddenly wrecked when a bunch of officers ran out of the sheriff's office, and took off in squad cars. "Wonder what's going on?" Lexi thought out loud, as Sam gently lifted her off his shoulders and placed her back on the ground.

"Let's go back for the Impala, and we'll check it out," Dean said, picking up his phone to call for a cab to get them back to the car.

xxx

They pulled the car up out-front of the Sorority house, where Lori was sitting wrapped up in a blanket in the back of a parked ambulance. The Reverend and sheriff were talking to her. Sam turned back to look at her. "Could you stay here while we go talk to them?" he asked Lexi.

Lexi nodded solemnly, disappointed that she'd have to sit out the questioning. The boys gave her a smile before they climbed out and walked around the back of the sorority. "Why would the Hook Man come here? This is a long way from 9 Mile Road," Sam said pensively, looking at the girl's dorm.

"Maybe he's not haunting the scene of his crime. Maybe it's about something else." Dean smirked when they spotted two of the girls leaving the side entrance of the building. "Dude, sorority girls! Think we'll see a naked pillow fight?"

The two of them climbed up onto the balcony of the house, and clambered ungracefully through the window. As Dean landed on top of Sam, he let out a sarcastic apology. "Be quiet!" Sam snapped.

"You be quiet!" Dean sassed back.

Sam rolled his eyes and opened the door slightly, watching as another officer left the bedroom. Once he was out of sight, Sam pushed the door open quietly, and the boys jolted at the writing in blood on the wall.

"'Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light.' That's right out of the legend," Sam murmured.

"Yeah, that's classic Hook Man all right," Dean tapped his nose. "It's definitely a spirit."

"Yeah, I've never smelled ozone this strong before," Sam moved closer to the wall. "Hey, come here. Does that look familiar to you?" He pointed to a cross symbol beneath the writing.

Heading back down to the car, Lexi greeted them with a smile. "Anything interesting?" she asked as they sat down in the front seats.

Dean filled her in quickly on what they found, while Sam flipped through the pages of one of the journals they had taken from the library. "It's the same symbol," he said suddenly. "Seems like it is the spirit of Jacob Karns."

"All right, let's find the dude's grave, salt and burn the bones, and put him down," Dean said, sounding excited to get to work.

"'After execution, Jacob Karns was laid to rest in an Old North Cemetery. In an unmarked grave.'" Sam read out loud. Both their expressions turned to one of annoyance.

"Super," Dean said sarcastically. It was going to be difficult to find the body if it was in an unmarked grave. Their job just got trickier.

"Ok, so we know it's Jacob Karns, but we still don't know when he'll manifest next, or why."

"I think it has something to do with Lori," Lexi chimed in. Dean turned to look at her through the rearview mirror, and nodded in agreement.

"I guess we better talk to your little friend," Dean said to Sam as started up the Impala.

Later on, Dean had taken it upon himself to go search for the unmarked grave, hoping to find the bones of Jacob Karns. Lexi had decided to tag along with him, and she was now sitting next to a large whole that Dean was digging. She shivered as the cool breeze hit her skin through her thing sweater. "Do you want any help?" she asked quietly, feeling that her voice sounded so loud in the silence of the graveyard.

"Nah, you just stay right there," he said, continuing to shovel the dirt out of the grave. It felt weird and slightly intrusive to be digging up someone's grave, but if the man was killing people, then obviously it had to be done.

After another twenty minutes, Lexi couldn't help the shivers that wracked her body as the temperature continued to drop, and she chastised herself for not bringing a heavier jacket. As if reading her thoughts, Dean turned to look at her before stripping off his leather jacket. "Here, I'm sweating like a pig, so take it," he tossed the coat lightly to her, and she gratefully put it around her shoulders. She was so small while sitting cross-legged, that the jacket covered her from the neck down. A groan of relief escaped her as the warmth from the jacket seeped through her.

"Thank you," she said sheepishly. "Are you mad that dad stuck you and Sam with me?"

Dean froze at the question, and turned to look at her. "I'm not gonna lie," he started, and she mentally prepared herself for whatever he was about to say. "It's a really jacked up situation. I mean, a secret sister that we didn't know about? Sam and I are mad at dad for hiding you from us, but not that you're here with us."

Lexi nodded in understanding. "I wish he would have told you guys about me from the beginning. It feels weird that I've always known about you, but you only just learned about me."

Dean continued digging. "Well, we've got a lot of catching up to do. That's it, next time, I get to watch the cute girl's house." Lexi giggled, curling up more under the warm jacket.

After a few more shovel fulls of dirt, a loud bang echoed through the night as he hit something hard. Lexi leaned over to peer into the hole as Dean smashed through the coffin, revealing a skeleton dressed in old garments. "Hello, preacher," Dean mused, as he threw the shovel aside. "Lexi, pass me my bag."

Grabbing the duffel bag, she handed it to Dean, who pulled out salt and lighter fluid to cover the preacher's bones with. As he climbed out of the hole and stood next to her, he tossed in a lit match, and the two watched as the bones burned into ashes. "Goodbye, preacher," Dean concluded.

As the two of them headed back towards the Impala, Dean's cell phone rang. He picked it up and held it up to his ear. "Sam? What happened?"

Lexi could hear Sam's voice talking quickly and loudly through the line, but she couldn't make out what he was saying. She watches as Dean's expression changed from one of confusion, to worry, and then to relief. "We'll be there in a few minutes, hang tight Sammy." He snapped the phone shut and turned to Lexi.

"What happened? Is he ok?" she asked, looking up at him nervously.

"Yeah, the Reverend got attacked and they're at the hospital," Dean said as he threw his duffel in the car. A shiver wracked Lexi at the idea of the Hook Man, and she climbed into the back seat of the Impala. Remembering that she still wore Dean's jacket, she reluctantly peeled it off and put it on the front seat. Her older brother sat in the front seat, and they took off to the hospital, and Lexi didn't fail to notice that Dean drove faster than the speed limit to get there.

When they got into the hospital, they were stopped by a couple of officers, even though they could see Sam just down the hall. "No, it's alright, we're with him. He's our brother," Dean explained to the officers, before looking over at Sam. "Hey! Brother!"

The sheriff next to Sam looked at them and called "Let them through." The two of officers stepped aside, and the siblings quickly walked towards Sam.

"You ok?" Dean asked Sam, giving the younger boy a once over. Lexi looked up at Sam worriedly, and he reached down to ruffle her hair a bit, earning a small smile from the girl.

"Yeah," Sam answered, turning to glance at the Reverend who lay in the hospital bed.

"What the hell happened?" Dean asked. "You saw him?"

"Damn right. Why didn't you torch the bones?"

"What are you talking about. I did. You sure it's the spirit of Jacob Karns?" Dean looked confused.

"It sure as hell looked like him, and that's not all. I don't think the spirit is latching on to the Reverend."

Dean scoffed. "Well, yeah. The guy wouldn't send the Hook Man after himself."

"I think it's latching onto Lori. Last night she found out her father is having an affair with a married woman," Sam's gaze turned to Lori, who was sitting beside her father with a worried expression.

"So what?"

"So, she's upset about it. She's upset about the immorality of it. She told me she was raised to believe that if you do something wrong, you get punished."

Lexi's head tilted at that. It was the same way she had been raised. Her mother had been strict, and if she ever put so much as a toe out of line, she had been heavily reprimanded. "Ok," Dean drawled. "So she's conflicted. And the spirit of Preacher Karns is latching on to repress the emotions and maybe he's doing the punishing for her, huh?"

"Right. Rich come on too strong. Taylor tries to make her into a party girl, Dad has an affair..." More of the puzzle pieces clicked into place.

"Remind me not to piss this girl off. But I burned those bones, I buried them in salt, why didn't that stop him?"

A realization struck Lexi like a slap to the face. "The hook!" she exclaimed, causing the two boys two look down at her. "The hook wasn't in the coffin."

"It was the murder weapon," Sam said pensively. "In a way, it was a part of him."

"So, like the bones, the hook is a source of his power."

"So if you guys find the hook," Lexi added, "you'll stop the Hook Man." The three of them smiled.

"Back to the library," Sam said, causing Lexi and Dean to groan.

xxx

They ended up spending almost a full hour searching through records before Dean spoke up. "Here's something, I think," Dean pointed at the page. "Log book, Iowa State Penitentiary. Karns, Jacob. Personal affects: disposition thereof."

"Does it mention the hook?" Sam asked, leaning over to glance at the page. Lexi put down the journal she'd been skimming through, and sat up straighter to try and see what Dean was looking at.

"Yeah, maybe. Upon execution, all earthly items shall be remanded to the prisoner's house of worship, St. Barnabas Church."

"That's where the Reverend preaches," Lexi said, her eyes growing wide. "Where they live."

"Maybe that's why the Hook Man has been haunting reverends and reverend's daughters for the past 200 years," Dean commented, nodding at Lexi's statement.

"Yeah," Sam chimed in. "But if the hook were at the church, or Lori's house, don't you think someone might've seen it? I mean, a bloodstained, silver-handled hook?"

"Check the church records," Dean replied. Sam stood up and grabbed a box labeled "Records of St. Barnabas Church" and placed it on the table. He passed a journal to Lexi, and one to Dean, before sitting down with his own documents.

Within another twenty minutes, Sam got their attention. "St. Barnabas donations, 1862. Received silver-handled hook from state penitentiary. Reforged. They melted it down. Made it into something else."

"Great," Dean snapped, slamming the book in his hands shut and tossing it into the box. "We better get to that church."

xxx

That night they pulled up at the church. Lexi pulled on her belt, earning a whistle from Dean. "That's quite the set up you got there, kid," he chuckled. "Gift from dad?"

"Yeah!" she smiled widely up at him. "It's easier to grab everything and carry it around."

Dean turned to Sam. "Alright, we can't take any chances. Anything silver goes in the fire."

"I agree," Sam replied. "So Lori's still at the hospital. We'll have to break in."

"Alright, take your pick."

"I'll take the house."

"Ok, Lexi you're with me in the church." They parted ways from Sam, but Dean stopped and turned to Sam. "Hey! Stay out of her underwear drawer!" Lexi snickered, and she could almost hear Sam rolling his eyes.

The two of them grabbed everything remotely silver and brought it down to the basement of the church, where Dean was tossing it all into the fire. Sam eventually came down to join them, carrying a bag full of thing's from Lori's house.

"I got everything that even looked silver," he said, as he began tossing stuff into the fire.

"Better safe than sorry," Dean replied as they threw the rest of into the flames.

The sound of footsteps froze Lexi in place as her eyes turned to her brothers. "Move, move," Dean snapped quietly, grabbing his gun and heading upstairs first, Sam right behind him. Lexi followed quietly, adrenaline building.

At the top of the stairs, they spotted Lori sitting in a pew alone, crying. Dean rolled his eyes and lowered his gun, heading back down the stairs. Lexi stepped out in front of Sam and walked towards the crying girl. She could feel Sam walking behind her. "Lori?" she asked softly.

The girl's eyes snapped up to look at them. "What are you doing here?" she asked them, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What is it?" Sam asked, moving to sit next to her. Lexi stood leaning on a pew, feeling sorry for the girl. She'd lost her boyfriend, best friend, and now she'd almost just lost her father. It had to be hard. She couldn't imagine losing her brothers, or father. It would probably destroy her.

Lori looked at Sam sadly. "I've been trying to understand what's been happening. Why? Now I know so I'm praying for forgiveness?"

"Forgiveness for what?" Lexi asked, her head tilting to the side.

"Don't you see?" Lori's head turned to face her. "I'm to blame for all this. I've read in the bible about avenging angels."

Lexi had to force down the scoff. Thankfully Sam spoke up, voicing her exact thoughts. "Trust me, this guy - he's no angel."

"I was so angry at my father. Part of me wanted him punished, and then he came and he punished him."

"It's not your fault," Sam murmured softly. Lexi couldn't help but think it kind of was. If she hadn't desired punishment for the people in her life, then none of this would have happened. Still, she knew that people couldn't control those thoughts, and even though Lori hadn't meant for this to happen, it was just the way things had turned out.

"Yes it is," Lori said, a sob escaping as she said it. "I don't know how, but it is. I killed Rich. Taylor, too. I nearly killed my father." Lexi thought she saw movement at the back of the church, but when she glanced over, she saw nothing. The hairs rose up on the back of her neck. Something wasn't right.

"Lori..." Sam said softly, obviously not noticing the feeling that something was wrong. Lexi really hoped she was just being paranoid.

"I can see it now. They didn't deserve to be punished; I do." As soon as the words left Lori's mouth, Lexi's stomach dropped. A noise came from the front of the church, and the candles at the altar blew out.

"Come on, we gotta go!" Sam shouted, grabbing Lexi's hand and pulling Lori towards the basement door. Lexi screamed when the Hook Man appeared behind the door, slamming his hook through the door. "Go!"

They took off down the aisle and into one of the back church rooms. Lexi's heart was pounding in her chest, threatening to fly right out of its cavity behind her ribs. The sound of glass smashing from another door caused her to yelp, as she ducked behind her taller brother. The Hook Man swung at Sam, chasing them around the room, until he finally hooked Sam in the shoulder. "No! Sam!" Lexi yelled, jumping up and running straight into the Hook Man, knocking him off her brother.

The man threw Lexi into the wall, and she could do nothing to brace herself as her back at head slammed into the wooden wall. She landed in a heap on the floor, and could only watch as an invisible force dragged Lori across the floor.

Sam looked conflicted, but Lexi waved at him to help Lori. He darted over to her. "Come on, you okay?" The Hook Man appeared and knocked Sam backwards into a wall. Lexi climbed to her feet, ignoring the pounding in her skull, as she saw the Hook Man loom of Lori's shivering form on the ground. Sam rushed up behind the spirit, when suddenly Dean entered into the room, gun raised.

"Sam! Drop!" Dean shouted. Instantly, Sam crouched down right before the gun went off. The salt shot hit the Hook Man, who disappeared into dust.

"I thought we got all the silver!" Sam said in confusion.

"So did I," Dean sighed, lowering his gun and running his other hand through his hair. Lexi's eyes roamed around, and her eyes hit something gleaming around Lori's neck.

"Lori! Where did you get that necklace?" Lexi asked, limping over next to the older girl. She squinted at the chain. It sure looked silver.

"My father gave it to me," she said, looking confused.

"Where'd your dad get it?" Dean asked.

"He said it was a church heirloom, he gave it to me when I started school."

"Is it silver?" Sam shouted.

"Yes!" she answered back, startled. Lexi grabbed the chain and ripped it from the girl's neck, and tossed it to Dean. In the hallway, they noticed the Hook Man appear, making a long scratch on the wall.

"Sam!" Dean shouted, throwing the rifle to Sam, and then he took off back towards the basement to burn the necklace.

Sam pointed the gun at the scratch forming on the wall and shot, quickly reloaded again, and then kept shooting. The Hook Man appeared in solid form and ripped the rifle out of her brother's hand, and knocked him to the floor next to Lori. Lexi pulled out her salt gun and took aim at the Hook Man. Just as she was about to fire, the hook melted, right before the rest of the spirit's body went up in flames.

Footsteps rapidly approached, and Dean darted into the room, a look of relief settling over his features as he realized the Hook Man was gone.

xxx

Lexi was sitting in the back of an ambulance, sitting still as a paramedic gently probed the bump on the back of her head from where she'd been tossed into the wall. "It's not too bad," the lady said, passing her an ice pack. "Just keep that over it for the next twenty minutes to help reduce some of the swelling."

Gently, Lexi placed the ice pack against the bump on her head, wincing at the discomfort. Across the lot, she could see Sam standing up from where another paramedic had cleaned up and bandaged his wounded arm. Dean was standing next to him, talking to the sheriff, clarifying what had attacked them all. Lexi couldn't quite make out what they were saying but her mind was wandering anyways.

That had been her first official hunt, and she guessed it had gone as well as they can. Her mind replayed the terror of watching the Hook Man cut her brother, and she wondered if this was her future. To watch her brothers get hurt, or to be hurt herself. Still, if it was to protect the unsuspecting humans from a gruesome fate, then she guessed they were doing noble work. Dean was incredibly concerned about Sam's welfare, and the other way around. Lexi couldn't help feeling that she was intruding on her brothers' way of living. They seemed to have a very close relationship, and here she was, a nobody showing up. It would take a long time for them to care about her, as she does them, and maybe they would never feel the brother-sister love, since she'd shown up in their lives too late.

Sighing, she chastised herself for feeling her eyes prick with tears. Never cry, her father would always tell her. It was weak to shed tears. Shaking her head lightly, she thanked the paramedic and stood up, handing her back the ice pack. Not waiting on her brothers, she got into the back seat of the Impala, and curled up against the window behind the driver's side.

Dean climbed in next, looking back at her. "You feeling okay, kid?" Lexi sighed, he so rarely used her name. Would she always be 'the kid'? She nodded in response, and looked away from him and back out the window. Sam got into the car next. Dean turned to him. "We could stay."

Sam shook his head and turned to look over his shoulder at Lexi. "How's your head, Lexi?" Sam asked gently.

"It's fine, just a bump," she shrugged, not looking away from the window. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Sam look away from her and share a look with Dean, as they pulled out onto the road and drove away.


	3. Bugs

**Author's Note: Thanks for reading guys. Just a warning, some mentions of parental abuse (mother-daughter) in this chapter. I own nothing except my character Alexandra Mary-Janette Winchester.**

Chapter 2: Bugs

A few days later, I was sitting in the motel late one evening. Dean and Sam had gone out to a bar; something about Dean wanting to earn some cash hustling pool... whatever that meant. It was just after midnight and I was supposed to be asleep, but my mind kept travelling to my mom. We never had a close relationship, but her recent death still weighed heavily on my mind. Every time I closed my eyes, I'd see her face in my dreams and get jolted awake from the unhappy memories.

In my hands, I held onto the pendant she had given me before she died. It was a silver heart, hung on a thin chain. She'd worn it every day, it had been a gift to her from my father. Now it was mine. Reaching behind my head, I clasped it around my neck, allowing the gentle weight of the pendant to settle on my chest.

Things were still tense with my brothers. They don't speak to me much, and haven't asked any questions about my past yet. I had to start sharing a bed with them, since they refused to let me sleep on the floors in the motel rooms. I longed to be able to hug them, but I knew they were not ready for it yet. They still barely knew me; I was a stranger to them. It was hard for my heart to accept, but it was going to take a while for them to welcome me as their sister. If they ever did...

Lying back against the pillows, I stared up at the ceiling in the dark. I wished dad would pick up his phone. I wanted to talk to him so bad. My mind wandered off, thinking about the way my life had changed in the past couple of weeks. I was jolted from my thoughts when the front door opened. Glancing up, I saw Dean and Sam walk in. "Lexi, what are you still doing up?" Sam asked gently, as he put his bag on the ground.

Dean wandered over to the other bed, and stripped down to his shorts and t-shirt before unceremoniously flopping under the covers. A chuckle escaped my lips as he rolled over, winking at me and Sam. "I couldn't sleep," I answered Sam honestly. "Just thinking about my mom."

The silence was palpable as they took in what I said. So far, I had offered very little information about my mother, but they'd also neglected to ask about her. "Were you and her close?" Sam inquired, pulling off his jacket as he sat down beside me. It never ceased to amaze me how tall he was. Both he and Dean were freakishly tall.

I sighed at his question, my hand reaching up to grasp the silver heart hanging from my neck. "No, we were never close," I murmured softly. I could see Dean looking over in interest. They'd probably wanted to know about my past, but had been too nervous to ask. "My mom, Janette, was strict. Things were always to be done her way, by the book, and everything had to be perfect. My first book was a beginner's guide to monsters. The toys I had as a baby were unloaded handguns. I knew how to make a salt circle before I could walk. I may be only eight, but I feel much older. I was raised to skip childhood."

She took a long breath and thought about what she could say next. "If I ever did anything wrong, I was severely punished. Dad never even knew the lengths that mom went to make me the perfect hunter. Still, she was my mom, and I miss her. You should be happy that you both had Mary for your mom. Dad talked about her all the time. She seems like she would have been a nice mom..." my voice cracked as I trailed off.

Sam took a long breath. "I'm sorry that you were raised like that," he said softly, reaching over to take her small hand in his much larger one. "Things will be different with us though. We are not your parents, so you can have some fun now, between the jobs. We'd like to get to know you better, and not the you that your mom created. The real you."

A smile pulled at the corners of my mouth. Unable to help myself, I reached up and wrapped my arms around Sam's neck. The joy that filled my heart was incredible when his arms came back to hug me. I let out a choked sob. "Mom never hugged me. She said it created unnecessary attachments. She only hugged me when daddy was around."

At that comment, Sam squeezed harder, holding me firmly against his chest. "That's awful," the shock noticeable in his tone. Two hands grabbed me from behind, and I yelped in surprise as I was pulled out of Sam's arms and found myself being hugged by Dean. I shifted so I could wrap my arms around him, burying my face in his neck.

"I've waited to meet you guys for a long time," I whispered, a happy tear making its way down my cheek, which soaked through his t-shirt.

Dean said nothing, just held me tighter against him for a long moment, before tucking me under the covers beside Sam. Rolling onto my side, I held onto Sam's hand as Dean crawled into the other bed and turned off the lamp. "Goodnight guys," he said.

"Goodnight," Sam and I said at the same time. That was one of the best nights of sleep I'd ever had.

xxx

"Lexi, time to get up," Sam's voice broke through the barrier of my sleep, gently rousing me. "Dean's got breakfast."

Blinking wearily, I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and sat up slowly. Sam was sitting beside me grinning, already dressed in jeans and a jacket. At the small round table in the corner, Dean was sitting down eating a bagel. He gave me a small wave, and smiled around his mouthful of food, causing me to giggle. His hand latched onto a brown paper bag and lightly tossed it to me.

Tentatively, I grabbed the bag and peered inside. "Yay!" I squealed. Inside was a blueberry muffin from the bakery down the street from the motel. "Thank you!" Grabbing the muffin, I quickly devoured it, enjoying every bite. The two boys laughed at my enthusiasm.

After I finished, I looked up at Sam. "So, do we have a new case yet?"

He nodded. "Oasis Plains, Oklahoma - not far from here. A gas company employee, Dustin Burwash, supposedly died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob."

"Huh?" I tilted my head to the side in confusion. What was that?

"It's the human version of Mad Cow Disease," he explained. "Which is weird, because Mad Cow causes massive brain degeneration. It takes months, even years, for the damage to appear. But this guy, Dustin? Sounds like his brain disintegrated in about an hour. Maybe less."

I shuddered involuntarily. "That's weird, and gross," I said, wrinkling my nose. "You think it's something else?"

Sam nodded as he stood up and grabbed his and Dean's bags. "You get ready, and then we'll hit the road." Jumping out of bed, I grabbed a change of clothes, and darted into the bathroom to have a quick shower and get ready for the day.

xxx

We pulled up in front of the Oklahoma Gas and Power Company building later that morning. Getting out of the car, we approached a construction worker wearing a white hard hat. "Travis Weaver?" Sam asked as we walked up.

"Yeah, that's right," the guy said, turning to look at us.

"Are you the Travis who worked with Uncle Dusty?" Dean asked, lying smoothly. I hoped one day I would be able to lie that easily. All good hunters had to be able to lie.

Travis looked skeptical. "Dustin never mentioned nephews and a niece."

"Really? Well, he sure mentioned you," Dean replied. "He said you were the greatest."

"Yeah," Sam added, nodding to Dean's comment.

Travis smiled at them. "Oh, he did? Huh."

"Listen, we wanted to ask you... what exactly happened out there?" Dean's tone got more serious.

Travis' expression turned haggard. "I'm not sure. He fell in a sinkhole, I went to the truck to get some rope, and, uh... by the time I got back..."

"What did you see?"

"Nothin'. Just Dustin."

"No wounds or anything?" Sam asked, his head tilting a bit.

"Well, he was bleeding... from his eyes and his ears, his nose. But that's it."

"So, you think it could be this whole mad cow thing?" Dean allowed some skepticism into his tone.

"I don't know. That's what the doctors are sayin'."

"But if it was," Sam added, "he would've acted strange beforehand, like dementia, loss of motor control. You ever notice anything like that?"

"No. No way. But then again, if it wasn't some disease, what the hell was it?"

A chill ran up my spine as Dean replied, "That's a good question." I was definitely curious what had killed the man. So little information to go on, and so many different monsters and things out there... how would they ever pinpoint what it was?

"You know, can you tell us where this happened?" Sam questioned. I guess that was where they were headed next, to see if they could find anything by the murder scene.

"Yeah," Travis sighed.

xxx

A while later, we pulled up to the scene of Dustin's death. There was a large sinkhole in the ground, surrounded by yellow police tape. "Huh, what do you think?" Dead asked, looking around.

"I don't know," Sam replied. "But if that guy, Travis, was right, it happened pretty damn fast." They ducked under the police tape and shone their flashlight down into the hole.

"So, what? Some sort of creature chewed on his brain?" I shuddered at the idea. Dean definitely was blunt.

"No, there'd be an entry wound. Sounds like this thing worked from the inside."

Dean looked pensively at the hole. "Huh. Looks like there's only room for one. You wanna flip a coin?"

"Wait, you're going down there?" I asked, shocked. They had no idea what could be down there. Dean picked up a coil of rope.

"All right," he said to Sam, "I'll go if you're scared. You scared?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Flip the coin," he snapped. Dean laughed and took a coin out of his pocket.

"All right, call it in the air... chicken." Dean tossed the coin into the air, but Sam caught it.

"I'm going."

"I said I'd go."

"I'm going."

"All right." Dean backed off, but I could see the smirk on his face. I could only roll my eyes at the two idiots. Sam began tying the rope around his waist, and I peered down the hole once more, wondering what could be awaiting my brother at the bottom.

"Don't drop me," he said to Dean, just as the elder began to lower him down the sinkhole. Sam was using the wall to help him scale down to the bottom. I bit my lower lip in worry as I shone the flashlight down, giving him some lighting. Glancing up at Dean, I could see him struggling with the weight of Sam as he tried to slowly lower him. Sweat was beading above his brow, and he was taking deep breaths. His arms were locked in a bent position, slowly feeding the rope.

"Be careful Sammy," I said softly, more to myself than anything.

"Don't worry, honey, there's nothing down here." Sam's voice called back up. "Dean, I'm at the bottom."

"Do you see anything?" he called down, looking over into the hole.

Sam was quiet for a moment, and I turned to look up at Dean. "You can pull me back up now."

"Easier said than done," Dean mumbled, causing me to snicker. As Dean began to pull back on the rope, his feet digging into the ground as he leaned back, arms working as he pulled the rope, I peered down and saw Sam scaling the wall with his arms and legs, trying to take some of the load off of Dean.

"I guess I should have gone down," I mumbled. It would have been easier to pull me up. That was one of the things mom told me before she died; I was supposed to make my brothers' jobs easier while hunting, by doing the tasks that they were too big / unable to do. Look out for your family, was rule number 1.

"Not a chance," Dean said between gritted teeth, right as Sam crawled out of the sinkhole. As Dean let the rope go slack, he turned to me. He offered no further explanation, and helped Sam up.

One of Sam's hands was clenched shut, and he opened it to reveal a beetle. I lurched away from him in disgust. I absolutely hated bugs. He snickered at me before he spoke. "There was a few of these guys down there, but that's it. No sign of anything else."

We got back into the Impala and Dean started her up to drive away. "So you found some beetles. In a hole, in the ground. That's shocking, Sam," he said sarcastically.

"There were no tunnels, no tracks," Sam replied, looking at the beetle. "No evidence of any other kind of creature down there. You know, some beetles do eat meat. Now, it's usually dead meat but-"

"How many did you say there were?" Dean interrupted, eyeing the beetle in his brother's hand.

"Ten." I shuddered at Sam's answer. 1 beetle was more than enough for me. It was a good thing I hadn't gone down the hole. I probably would have screamed.

"It'd take a whole lot more than that to eat out some dude's brain."

"Maybe there were more," I chimed in, a shiver wracking my body at the idea of a swarm of beetles eating the guy's brain.

"I don't know," Dean sighed. "It sounds like a stretch to me."

"Well, we need more information on the area, the neighborhood. Whether something like this has ever happened before."

They were driving down a road, when they passed a sign for an open house, brightly decorated with red balloons. Dean's eyes lit up. "What?" Sam asked.

"I know a good place to start," Dean smirked as they passed another sign that read "Models Open. New Buyers' BBQ Today!". "I'm kinda hungry for a little barbeque, how 'bout you?"

Sam gave him a knowing look and I laughed. Dean immediately rushed to defend himself. "What, we can't talk to the locals?

"And the free food's got nothing to do with it?" Sam sounded mildly annoyed with Dean's love for food.

"Of course not. I'm a professional," he protested.

"Right..." Sam rolled his eyes. I was having a hard time holding back my giggles at the pair.

Dean pulled up out front of a massive estate, and I looked up at the houses in awe. Most were still under construction, but they were still impressive. As we stepped out of the Impala, Dean looked around. "Growin' up in a place like this would freak me out," he scoffed.

"Why?" I asked, confused at what the issue was with having a nice home.

"Well, manicured lawns, 'How was your day, honey?' I'd blow my brains out," he replied. Sam smacked the back of his head as I inhaled sharply.

"Dude, could you be more morbid?" Sam snapped. "Besides, there's nothing wrong with normal." Sam gave me a small smile as I shook my head at our elder brother.

"I'd take our family over normal any day," he responded. There was a bit of resentment in his tone, and I wondered if it had something to do with Sam skipping out on hunting to go to college and trying to have a normal life.

They approached the large house and knocked on the door. Within a few seconds, a grey-haired man in a tailored suit answered the door. "Welcome," he said with a smile, looking at the three of them.

"This is the barbeque?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, not the best weather, but... I'm Larry Pike, the developer here. And you are...?" he asked.

"Dean, this is Sam, and Alexandra," he replied, shaking Larry's hand.

"Good to meet you. So, you two are interested in Oasis Plains?" he asked, speaking only to her brothers. I rolled my eyes, totally used to being ignored by the adults.

"Yes, sir," Dean responded.

"Let me just say - we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or... sexual orientation."

A loud laugh escaped me before I could clamp my hands over my mouth. This guy honestly thought that my brothers were a couple? And what, that I was their kid? I couldn't stem the flow of giggles sneaking past my lips, earning a look from Sam. Though I could see the humor and disgust in his eyes too.

"We're brothers," Dean didn't hide the disgust in his voice, as his lip curled slightly. "And this is our sister."

Larry looked slightly embarrassed, but Sam spoke next. "Our father is getting on in years, and we're just lookin' for a place for him."

"Great, great," Larry said hurriedly. "Well, seniors are welcome, too. Come on in."

Larry guided them outside to the backyard, where lots of people were walking around, chatting and eating. I was never comfortable with large crowds, so I stuck close behind my brothers as they walked through. "You said you were the developer?" Sam inquired.

"Eighteen months ago," Larry answered. "I was walking this valley with my survey team. There was nothing here but scrub brush and squirrels. And you know what, we built such a nice place to live that I actually bought into it myself. This is our house. We're the first family in Oasis Plains. This is my wife, Joanie." He said, indicating to the woman who came to stand next to him. She was really pretty, with blonde hair and a pink top.

"Hi there," she said, holding out her hand to shake my brothers' hands. I lurked behind, not really noticeable.

"Hi," Dean said, shaking her hand.

"Nice to meet you."

"Sam, Dean, and Alexandra," Larry added. Joanie looked around and spotted me.

"Hi there Alexandra," she held out her hand, which I shook tentatively. There was so many people around, it was making me unsettled. I didn't have much experience in large crowds.

"Tell them how much you love the place, honey. And lie if you have to because I need to sell some houses."

"Right," Joanie said with a smile, as my brothers laughed.

"Boys, will you excuse me?" Larry said, as he walked away.

"Don't let his salesman routine scare you. This really is a great place to live," she added, before an energetic woman with her hair pulled back into a tight bun.

"Hi, I'm Lynda Bloome, head of sales," the woman said, looking at her brothers with what I would describe as: a predatory smile. She looked like a smiling hyena.

"And Lynda was second to move in, she's a very noisy neighbor, though," Joanie chuckled, as she moved to follow her husband.

Lynda laughed. "She's kidding, of course. I take it you two are interested in becoming homeowners."

"Well..." Dean sounded slightly intimidated, verifying my opinion. Hyena. Definitely.

"Y-yeah, well..." Even Sam was nervous.

"Well, let me just say that we accept homeowners of any race, religion, color, or... sexual orientation." I immediately covered my mouth to stifle my giggles.

Dean chuckled half-heartedly. "Right, um... I'm going to talk to Larry." He turned to Sam and smacked his butt as he said: "Okay, honey?"

"Bye, dad," I waved laughing. Dean gave me a hard look, making me laugh more as I turned back towards Sam, who was actually blushing.

As Sam was talking to Lynda, I walked away a little, surveying the people around me. Leaning against the table with my hand, I watched as the people talked with each other, totally unaware that something supernatural had killed someone, and was probably still hanging around.

Something fuzzy touched my hand, and I looked down in shock. Then I screamed. It was a tarantula, that was about to crawl up my arm. Waving my hand to get it off, I shot backwards, tripping over my feet and landing on my butt. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes as I saw a teenage boy laughing loudly before he picked up the tarantula. "Lexi!" Sam shouted, reaching down to help me to my feet. "Are you okay?"

Dean came running out of the house. "What's wrong?" he asked, watching as Sam helped me off the ground.

Everyone was staring at me, some snickering and others looking worried. I brushed their hands off and snapped my shoulders back, trying to keep the tears back for a couple minutes longer. Glaring at the laughing boy, I turned heel and stormed away back towards the front of the house to the Impala.

Stupid fear of bugs. Ever since I was little I'd always been petrified of any insect or spider. That stupid boy, scaring people just for fun. Angry and embarrassed tears spilled over my cheeks as I went to get into the Impala. Putting my hand on the handle, I went to open the door, but it wouldn't budge. Dean had locked the doors.

Grumbling angrily, I sat down leaning against the front tire, hugging my knees close to my chest. It was raining out, and while the backyard had been covered by the awnings they had set up. My hair was wet, and I pressed my face into my knees, ignoring the looks I was getting from people walking by.

After a few minutes, a figure crouched down in front of me, and I stiffened. Looking up, I relaxed when I saw it was Dean, and behind him was Sam. "You okay, kid?" Dean asked.

I nodded. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak out. Mom said it was stupid to be scared of bugs that can't hurt you."

Dean scoffed. "Everybody has irrational fears, Lexi. Sammy here is terrified of clowns. He used to cry when he saw Ronald McDonald. I'm scared of flying. Can't stand planes. There is nothing wrong with you being scared of bugs."

I noticed Sam giving Dean an impressed look. Noticing that I was wet, Dean shrugged off his leather jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders, before scooping me up in one fell swoop. Shrieking, I giggled as he stood up. Sam smiled and opened up the door to the Impala, and Dean tucked me in the front seat in the middle.

They got in on either side of me, and I was firmly pressed between the two of them. Leaning against Sam's shoulder, I couldn't keep the silly grin off my face as we drove off.

xxx

That evening, Sam was driving through the neighborhood while Dean was sifting through Dad's journal, looking for anything that might hint at what could have done the killings here in Oklahoma. I was tucked up in the back seat, trying to keep my eyes open to hear what they were discussing.

"You know, I've heard of killer bees, but killer beetles? What is it that could make different bugs attack?" Dean asked, as he flipped another page of the journal.

"Well," Sam mused. "Hauntings sometimes include bug manifestations."

"Yeah, but I didn't see any evidence of ghost activity," Dean's voice grew quiet as he skimmed the page.

"Yeah, me neither," Sam drawled.

"Maybe they're being controlled somehow. You know, by something or someone." This hunt was really going to suck if it was them hunting something controlling bugs. I couldn't suppress the shudder at the idea of bugs being control by some malevolent being.

"You mean, like Willard?"

"Yeah, bugs instead of rats."

Sam sighed. "There are cases of psychic connections between people and animals - elementals, telepaths."

"Yeah, that whole Timmy-Lassie thing-."

"That kid, he's got bugs for pets," I interrupted, subconsciously wiping my hand that the tarantula had touched.

"Matt?" Sam questioned, thinking about it.

"Yeah, he did try to scare you with a tarantula. Makes sense," Dean agreed. "You think he's our Willard?"

"I don't know," Sam muttered. "Anything's possible, I guess."

"Oh, hey. Pull over here."

Sam pulled the Impala over into an empty driveway of one of the Oasis Plains homes. This one was uninhabited, but had finished construction. "What are we doing here?" Sam questioned, shooting a look at Dean.

Dean stepped out of the car. "It's too late to talk to anybody else."

"We're gonna squat in an empty house?" Sam sounded appalled at the idea, but I couldn't help being excited. The house was massive, and it would be nice to sleep in a real home.

"I wanna try the steam shower. Come on," Dean looked absolutely excited, but rolled his eyes when Sam didn't move. "Come on!"

Reluctantly, Sam pulled the car into the garage, and Dean shut the massive door behind them.

The first thing I did, was collapse on what of the beds in the upstairs bedroom. It had been a very long day, and being traumatized by a tarantula made it all the more stressful. It didn't take me very long to fall asleep, but it was anything but restful. The room felt too big and lonely for just myself.

Early the following morning, I woke up to Sam was banging on the bathroom door, where Dean was enjoying the steam shower. "You ever comin' out of there?" he called into Dean. I rolled my eyes. Was Sam wanting to try out the fancy shower too?

"What?" Dean shouted back, agitation in his voice.

"Dean, a police call came in on the scanner." I sat up at that, and walked out to stand next to Sam. He smiled down at my disheveled appearance, and reached up to smooth down my hair.

"Hold on," Dean called back, and I could hear him fussing around in there.

"Someone was found dead three blocks from here. Come on." I stiffened at that. Another dead body.

Dean poked his head out of the bathroom door, smiling at the two of them, and looking ridiculously dorky with a towel wrapped around his head. "This shower is awesome," he chuckled. I guess he's used to hearing about bodies being found. It didn't even faze him anymore. Shuddering, I couldn't help but wonder if I would ever get that used to hearing that someone died. Though, in this line of work, it was a staple.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Come on." Putting a hand on my shoulder, he guided me down the stairs.

xxx

We ended up driving over to where the cops had fenced off one of the estates. I could see a body bag on a stretcher being carried out by a couple of coroners, and I felt mildly nauseous. Getting out of the car, Dean and Sam opened up two umbrellas to cover them from the rain. Sam put an arm over my shoulder, tucking me under the umbrella with him. I looked up at him gratefully as we walked up to where Larry was standing, looking a little pale as he hung up his phone. "Hello. You're, uh... back early," he said.

"Yeah," Dean explained, "we just drove in, wanted to take another look at the neighborhood."

"What's goin' on?" Sam asked.

Larry opened his mouth and appeared to think for a moment before he answered. "You guys met, uh... Lynda Bloome at the barbeque?"

"The realtor." Sam's eyes widened.

"Well, she, uh... passed away last night."

The boys' expression turned to one of shock, and I tucked closer into Sam's side. She'd died three blocks down from us. Were we lucky that we never got attacked too?

"What happened?" Dean asked, shell shocked.

"I'm still trying to find out. Identified the body for the police. Look, I-I'm sorry, this isn't a good time now." I felt bad for the guy. Dead people kept showing up on his development project.

"It's okay," Sam said.

"Excuse me." Larry turned and walked back towards where the police were talking by the front door of Lynda's house.

"You know what we have to do, right?"

"Yeah," Sam sighed. "Get in that house."

"See if we got a bug problem." At Dean's words I shuddered, and he looked down at me. "You go wait in the Impala and we'll be back soon."

xxx

"What did you find?" I asked my brothers when they got back into the Impala twenty minutes later.

"Spiders," Dean answered. I gagged a bit. Death by spiders. That would have to be one of the worst ways to go.

"She was killed by spiders?" I had to ask.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, there was a lot of them from the looks of it."

"Well this has to be the worst hunt ever," I remarked, leaning against the window and watching as we pulled away from the house.

We ended up grabbing a bite to eat at a restaurant in town before driving around town later in the afternoon. As we pulled up at a curb, we could see Matt getting off a school bus and start walking. "Isn't his house that way?" Dean pointed in the other direction.

"Yup," Sam agreed. We looked at him in confusion.

"Where is he going?" I asked. We got out of the car and began to follow him, surprised when he went into the woods and began looking at a grasshopper.

"Hey, Matt. Remember me?" Matt looked up startled when Sam spoke.

"What are you doin' out here?" Matt asked, and I could catch the defensiveness in the tone.

"Well, we wanna talk to you," Dean explained. I remained between my brothers, eyeing the grasshopper on Matt's hand nervously. How someone could hold an insect so calmly blew my mind.

"You're not here to buy a house, are you?" When Dean shook his head, the boy looked nervous. "W-wait. You're not serial killers?"

I burst out laughing with my brothers. "No, no. No, I think you're safe," Sam chuckled.

"So, Matt... you sure know a lot about insects," Dean said, hinting at the topic he was about to bring up.

"So?" Matt's eyebrows furrowed together as he glanced at the grasshopper crawling on his arm.

"Did you hear what happened to Lynda, the realtor?" Dean inquired.

"I hear she died this morning."

"Mm, that's right. Spider bites."

Sam spoke up. "Matt... you scared our sister with a spider."

"Wait. You think I had something to do with that?" Matt looked shocked and immediately went on the defense. He looked at me, and I glared at him.

"You tell us," Dean sounded impatient.

"That tarantula was a joke. Anyway, that wouldn't explain the bee attack or the gas company guy."

"You know about those?" Sam sounded shocked.

"There is something going on here. I don't know what... but something's happening with the insects. Let me show you something." Matt picked up his backpack and led them to another area.

"So, if you knew about all this bug stuff, why not tell your dad? Maybe he could clear everybody out," Sam asked as they walked.

"Believe me, I've tried. But, uh, Larry doesn't listen to me."

"Why not?"

"Mostly? He's too disappointed in his freak son."

Sam scoffed. "I hear you."

Dean turned to him in surprise. "You do?" Even I was confused. They'd hinted that dad and Sam's relationship was rocky, but I didn't know to what extent.

Sam shot Dean a look before turning back. "Matt, how old are you?"

"Sixteen," the boy answered.

"Well, don't sweat it, 'cause in two years, something great's gonna happen." I looked up at Sam in surprise. Was he really that mad with dad?

"What?" Matt sounded disbelieving.

"College. You'll be able to get out of that house and away from your dad."

"What kind of advice is that?" Dean sounded pissed, and I had to agree with him. "Kid should stick with his family."

Sam sighed and glared at Dean. "How much further, Matt?"

"We're close."

A few minutes later, we reached a large clearing. The sounds of hundreds of different insects met my ears from among the trees. Instinctively, I latched onto Dean's sleeve. Reaching down, he grabbed me from underneath my shoulders and propped me up on his hip, my arms wrapping around his neck in surprise at being lifted. "Don't worry, they won't get near you," he said softly.

"Thank you," I murmured, relaxing into his hold, and trying to ignore the sound of all the bugs.

"I've been keeping track of insect populations," Matt explained. "It's, um, part of an AP science class."

"You two are like peas in a pod," Dean commented.

"What's been happening?" Sam asked Matt, ignoring Dean's comment. I could sense some tension building between my brothers, and I didn't like it.

"A lot. I mean, from bees to earthworms, beetles... you name it. It's like they're congregating here."

"Why?" Dean asked.

"I don't know."

Sam pointed to a dark patch of grass a few feet away. "What's that?" They walked over to it, and I screeched when I saw it was hundreds of worms. When Dean stepped on some, they fell into the ground, creating a hole. I clung to him tighter, wrapping my legs around his waist and burying my face into his neck. He tightened his hold on me while Sam stepped forward to poke around in the hole.

"There's something down there," Sam said. Peeking over, I watched Sam pull out a human skull, covered in dirt and worms. I gagged, and pressed my face back into Dean's neck.

xxx

Later on that day, we pulled up out front of a local university. Sam had pulled up more bones, and had put them in a box, deciding to bring them here, since there was more than one skeleton. Stepping out of the car, Sam grabbed the box. "So, a bunch of skeletons in an unmarked grave," Sam mused.

"Yeah," Dean muttered. "Maybe this is a haunting. Pissed off spirits? Some unfinished business?"

"But why bugs?" I couldn't hide the disgust from my tone.

"So, with that kid back there..." Dean said to Sam. "Why'd you tell him to just ditch his family like that?"

"Just, uh... I know what the kid's goin' through," Sam sounded like he'd rather be talking about anything else. I could feel a fight building, and my stomach twisted. I didn't want them to fight.

"How 'bout telling him to respect his old man, how's that for advice?"

"Dean, come on!" Sam sighed as they both stopped walking and turned to look at each other. "This isn't about his old man. You think I didn't respect Dad. That's what this is about."

Dean rolled his eyes and looked away. "Just forget it, alright? Sorry I brought it up."

"Guys..." I murmured quietly, but was ignored by both.

"I respected him. But no matter what I did, it was never good enough."

"So, what are you saying? That Dad was disappointed in you?"

"Was? Is. Always has been!" Sam was starting to get agitated.

"Guys, please don't start fighting," I said softly.

Dean spared me a glance, but turned back to Sam. "Why would you think that?"

"Because I didn't wanna bow hunt or hustle pool - because I wanted to go to school and live my life, which to our whacked-out family, made me the freak." Sam's tone was getting louder, and I put myself between the boys.

Dean sounded tired. "Yeah, you were kind of like the blonde chick in The Munsters."

"Dean, you know what most dads are when their kids score a full ride? Proud. Most dads don't toss their kids out of the house." I froze at that. Dad kicked Sam out because he got into college. Was he really that petty?

"I remember that fight. In fact, I seem to recall a few choice phrases comin' out of your mouth."

"You know, truth is, when we finally do find Dad... I don't know if he's even gonna wanna see me." I felt bad for Sam at that moment, and reached up to grab his free hand that wasn't holding onto the box. He smiled sadly down at me, as if just realizing I was still here.

"Sam, Dad was never disappointed in you. Never. He was scared."

"What are you talking about?" Sam sounded genuinely puzzled. Even I was. Dad wasn't scared of anything, he was the bravest person I knew.

"He was afraid of what could've happened to you if he wasn't around. But even when you two weren't talking, he used to swing by Stanford whenever he could. Keep an eye on you. Make sure you were safe."

"What?"

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell me any of that?" Sam asked angrily.

"Well, it's a two-way street, dude," Dean said wearily. You could've picked up the phone. Come on, we're gonna be late for our appointment." Turning around, Dean walked away. Sam moved to follow but I stopped.

"I'll wait in the car," I muttered, turning and walking back to get into the Impala. I heard Sam sigh before he followed his brother. Fighting family members always made me unsettled. Mom used to fight with me so much. Our relationship was wrecked because I could never amount up to be what she wanted of me. I didn't want to see Sam and Dean torn apart like that.

xxx

When the boys got back to the Impala, they stayed quiet, neither speaking up about what had occurred. I noticed that we were heading out of town, and I had no idea where we were going, but I was too stubborn to ask. My mind kept wandering to the last fight I had had with my mother. The fight that wrecked our relationship, and then she died before we could mend things up.

 _I had been training with throwing knives, but I could hardly pay attention to the target as I launched knife after knife at the red board. Mom had told me father was coming for a visit in a few days, and I was so excited to see him. Things were always so much nicer when he was around._

 _"That is pathetic," a loud voice shouted from a few feet away. Turning around swiftly, I was shocked to see my mom standing there, watching my bad aim._

 _"Yes, ma'am. Sorry, I got distracted," I murmured, looking down at my feet. Eye contact always made her angry when I did something bad. I was to look down in submission respectfully._

 _"Distracted?" she scoffed. "What happens when you get distracted on a real hunt? You could end up getting someone killed? Or worse, you could miss your target and you could kill someone. There is no room for mistakes such as this when you're hunting."_

 _"I know, but-"_

 _"NO EXCUSES!" she shouted. I stiffened immediately. She walked over and plucked my knives from the target board and tossed them at my feet. "You'll put your brothers in an early grave with your hunting skills. Your father would be ashamed."_

 _I blushed darkly, and picked up one of the knives. Launching it straight, it hit the dead center of the target. "There, happy now?" I said snarkily._

 _I shouldn't have said it. Deep down I knew what was going to happen when I said it, but yet I still decided to be sassy. A loud slap echoed the room as her hand met my cheek. The familiar sting burned the side of my face._

That was a typical bad training day with mom. She never found my work good enough, and would always get angry quickly. I didn't want Sam and Dean to be like that, angry with each other all the time.

The drive was quiet, and after a good hour, we pulled up out from of a diner. We got out silently, and walked inside. There was a Native American man playing cards at a table. "Joe White Tree?" Sam asked. The man nodded in response. "We'd like to ask you a few questions, if that's alright."

"We're students from the university," Dean added.

"No, you're not. You're lying," Joe said, eyeballing Dean. We were all taken aback.

"Well, truth it-"

Joe interrupted him. "You know who starts sentences with 'truth is'? Liars." Dean exchanged a look with Sam.

"Have you heard of Oasis Plains? It's a housing development near the Atoka Valley," Sam inquired.

"I like him, he's not a liar." Joe said to Dean. He turned back to Sam. "I know the area."

"What can you tell us about the history there?"

"Why do you wanna know?"

"Something... something bad is happening in Oasis Plains. We think it might have something to do with some old bones we found down there - Native American bones."

"I'll tell you what my grandfather told me, what his grandfather told him. Two hundred years ago, a band of my ancestors lived in that valley. One day, the American cavalry came to relocate them. They were resistant, the cavalry impatient. As my grandfather put it, on the night the moon and the sun share the sky as equals, the cavalry first raided our village. They murdered, raped. The next day, the cavalry came again, and the next, and the next. And on the sixth night, the cavalry came one last time. And by the time the sun rose, every man, woman, and child still in the village was dead.

They say on the sixth night, as the chief of the village lay dying, he whispered to the heavens that no white man would ever tarnish this land again. Nature would rise up and protect the valley. And it would bring as many days of misery and death to the white man as the cavalry had brought upon his people."

The old man's story made sense. I looked up at my brothers, curious if they were thinking the same thing I was. Then Dean spoke up, verifying my thoughts. "Insects. Sounds like nature to me. Six days."

"And on the night of the sixth day, none would survive," Joe added. Dean and Sam exchanged a look, while I shuddered. Matt and his family were in danger.

xxx

As we walked back to the car, Sam spoke up. "When did the gas company man die?"

"Uh, let's see, we got here Tuesday, so, Friday the twentieth," Dean responded.

"March twentieth?" Sam asked. "That's the spring equinox."

"The night the sun and the moon share the sky as equals," Dean mused. I looked up at him. I wanted to put in my opinion, but my silent treatment was going strong, so I kept my mouth closed.

"So, every year about this time, anybody in Oasis Plains is in danger. Larry built this neighborhood on cursed land."

"And on the sixth night - that's tonight."

"If we don't do something, Larry's family will be dead by sunrise. So how do we break the curse?"

Dean opened the car door. "You don't break a curse. You get out of its way. We've gotta get those people out now." He climbed inside, Sam and I following his lead.

xxx

As Dean was driving back toward Oasis Plains, he dialed Larry. "Yes, Mr. Pike, there's a mainline gas leak in your neighborhood."

I could hear the sound of Larry speaking on the other end.

"Well, it's fairly extensive. I don't want to alarm you, but we need your family out of the vicinity for at least twelve hours or so, just to be safe." He went quiet for a minute. "Travis Weaver. I work for Oklahoma Gas and Power."

Dean's face turned sheepish. "Uh..." panicking, he hung up the phone.

"Give me the phone," Sam said as he snatched the phone from his brother. He quickly dialed a number and held it up to his ear. "Matt, it's Sam."

"Matt, just listen. You have to get your family out of that house right now, okay?" Matt said something through the line. "Because something's coming."

I shuddered. "Yeah, a lot more," Sam replied to Matt. "You've gotta make him listed, okay?"

"Give me the phone, give me the phone," Dean snapped, plucking the phone from Sam's grasp and put it up next to his ear. "Matt, under no circumstances are you to tell the truth, they'll just think you're nuts- Tell him you have a sharp pain in your right side and you've gotta go to the hospital, okay?"

He snapped the phone shut and turned to Sam. "Make him listen? What are you thinking?" I had to agree with Dean on this one. No way should Matt tell his father that thousands of bugs were coming for his family. That's a one-way ticket into a psychiatric facility.

xxx

Not long after, we pulled up outside Larry's house. I saw Larry glance out the window at us, an angry look on his face. He quickly stormed outside as Dean cussed. "Damn it, they're still here. Come on."

We got out of the car, Matt coming over to join us. "Get off my property before I call the cops," Larry threatened.

"Mr. Pike, listen," Sam said, trying to calm the situation before it elevated.

Matt pushed his way in front. "Dad, they're just trying to help."

"Get in the house," Larry yelled at his son. I winced at the sharp tone in his voice.

Turning to look at us, Matt's face turned desperate. "I'm sorry. I told him the truth."

"We had a plan, Matt, what happened to the plan?" Dean asked.

"Look," Sam pointed to his watch. "It's 12:00 AM. They are coming any minute now. You need to get your family and go, before it's too late."

"Yeah, you mean before the biblical swarm," Larry snapped sarcastically. I rolled my eyes at his stupidity. He could very well get his whole family killed tonight because of his naivety.

"Larry," Dean's tone was firm. "What do you think really happened to that realtor, huh? And the gas company guy? You don't think something weirds goin' on here?"

"Look, I don't know who you are, but you're crazy. You come near my boy or my family again, and we're gonna have a problem."

"Well, I hate to be a downer, but we've got a problem right now," Dean was getting more and more impatient. Even I was starting to get fidgety, knowing that a swarm of insects was coming to kill us.

"Dad, they're right, okay?" Matt shouted. "We're in danger."

"Matt, get inside! Now!" the man screamed at his son. I felt pity for the boy, knowing what it was like to be yelled at by a parent and being unable to defend yourself.

"No! Why won't you listen to me?"

"Because this is crazy! It doesn't make any sense!"

Sam intervened. "Look, this land is cursed! People have died here. Now, are you gonna really take that risk with your family?"

I tugged on Dean's sleeve, my face growing pale as a sound met my ears. "Wait," Dean interrupted them. "You hear it?"

"What the hell?" Larry asked, listening to the growing sound of insects. The fluorescent bug light on the porch began to overheat, killing several bugs at the same time.

"All right, it's time to go. Larry, get your wife," Dean said as he reached down and picked me up. I was beginning to shake, my mind shutting down in utter fear.

"Guys," Matt said, pointing up. We all turned our gazes up to the sky, and my heart dropped. Millions of bugs were flying towards the house, blanketing the entire sky.

"We'll never make it," Sam said, having to talk louder to be heard over the growing buzz. Frightened tears spilled as I buried my neck into Dean's shoulder, shaking like a leaf.

Dean tightened his grip. "Everybody in the house. Everybody in the house, go!" They took off into the house, Dean carrying me tucked against his chest. I heard the door slam behind us.

"Okay, is there anybody else in the neighborhood?" Sam quickly asked.

"No, it's just us," Larry answered, his voice shaking a bit. Not that I blamed him.

Joanie entered the room. "Honey, what's happening? What's that noise?" she asked, sounding worried.

"Call 911. Joanie!"

"Okay." She picked up the phone and dialed.

Dean placed me down in a corner. "Stay here, don't move," he said before standing up. "I need towels."

"Uh, in the closet," Larry answered, confused.

Sam nodded. "Okay, we've gotta lock this place up, come on - doors, windows, fireplace, everything, okay?" Sam and Matt took off upstairs.

"Phones are dead," Joanie said, panic evident in her tone.

"They must have chewed through the phone lines," Dean said as he stuffed towels at the base of the front door. Then everything went black as the power went out. "And the power lines."

"I need my cell," Larry's tone was getting more hysterical. "No signal."

"You won't get one. They're blanketing the house." At Dean's comment, I began to rock back and forth, reaching up to cover my ears to try and block out the buzzing. This was like something out of my darkest of nightmares. Millions of bugs were collecting on the doors and windows, covering the entire building.

"So, what do we do now?" Larry asked nervously.

"We try to outlast it. Hopefully, the curse will end at sunrise," Sam answered, reaching down and scooping me up. Grateful for the contact, I clung to his jacket and buried my face into his chest.

"Hopefully?" Larry's voice cracked.

Dean walked out of the kitchen carrying a can of bug spray and returned to the living room. He cast a worried glance at me in Sam's arms.

"Bug spray?" Joanie asked skeptically.

"Trust me," Dean answered. A loud creaking noise came from the far wall.

"What is that?" Matt gulped.

"The flue," Sam's eyes widened, and he tightened his grip on me.

"Sammy," I whimpered, wishing I could disappear.

"All right, I think everybody needs to get upstairs," Dean shouted. Before they could move, thousands of bugs came swarming into the living room, surrounding them. Everybody started screaming and shouting, include myself. I caught the sight of flames, and noticed Dean using a lighter with the can of bug spray to make it flare up. "All right, everybody upstairs! Now! Go, go, go!"

Sam ran up the stairs and into the attic with me clinging to him like a monkey. Dean slammed the door behind them. They crouched down, and after a moment, sawdust began to fall from the ceiling as the buzzing got louder.

"Oh, God, what's that?" Joanie shrieked.

"Something's eating through the wood," Dean answered.

"Termites," Matt exclaimed.

"Alright, everybody get back," Dean shouted. "Get back, get back, get back!"

Bugs pooled in through a hole in the ceiling, and I felt Sam's arm come up to cover as much of me as he could. His other arm was waving around frantically. I was screaming, so much that I was sure Sam would be deaf in his left ear if we survived this. Tears streamed down my cheeks, soaking his jacket. I could feel the bugs crawling on me, buzzing by my ears. Another body pressed against me from behind, and the smell of leather met my nose. Dean was also trying to cover me.

I screamed for a long time, until I felt Dean step back. The buzzing had stopped. I stopped screaming, but my whole body was shaking tremendously, unable to stop. The sun had risen, and the bugs had left. "She ok?" Dean asked.

"No," Sam murmured, his hand running over my back gently, trying futilely to relax me. "She'll be fine though. She's a Winchester." Those three final words meant the world to me.

xxx

A little while later in the morning, Dean and Sam approached Larry. I was sitting in the front seat of the Impala, still trembling lightly as I watched them. "What, no goodbye?" I heard Dean ask.

"Good timing," Larry replied. "Another hour and we'd have been gone." He shook both of their hands.

"For good?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. The development's been put on hold while government investigates those bones you found. But I'm gonna make damn sure no one lives here again."

"You don't seem too upset about it."

"Well, this has been the biggest financial disaster of my career, but... somehow, I really don't care," Larry said, looking over at Matt. Then his gaze turned to me in the Impala. "Is she going to be alright?"

"Yeah, she's tough," Dean said, sending me a quick smile, before looking back to Larry. Both of my brothers walked back to the car and climbed in on either side of me. I leaned into Sam's side, relaxing when his arm went around me to tuck me closer into his side.

"I wanna find Dad," Sam sighed.

"Yeah, me too," Dean exhaled, looking down at me as I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but I just... I want to apologize to him."

"For what?" Dean sounded surprised.

"All the things I said to him. He was just doing the best he could."

"He'll forgive you Sammy," I said softly, earning a gentle squeeze from him.

"And then within five minutes, you guys will be at each other's throats," Dean chuckled.

Sam laughed too. "Yeah, probably. Let's hit the road."

"Let's," Dean agreed, as he sped off away from Oasis Plains.


	4. Home

Chapter 3: Home

I was sitting eating a blueberry muffin happily at the table, while Dean was surfing the computer for a new case. Sam was sketching a picture of some tree, his brows furrowed in concentration. He had been acting kind of weird this morning, and I know for a face that he didn't sleep good. I had shared the bed with him last night, and he kept tossing and turning, and had woken me up a few times.

"All right," Dean said, leaning forward in his chair. "I've been cruising some websites. I think I found a few candidates for our next gig. A fishing trawler found off the coast of Cali - its crew vanished. And, uh, we got some cattle mutilations in West Texas. Hey! Am I boring you with this hunting evil stuff?"

"No, I'm listening. Keep going," Sam said, hardly looking up at Dean. He was sketching away madly on his notepad, and was constantly comparing his sketch with the one he had drawn earlier.

"And, here, a Sacramento man shot himself in the head. Three times." He waved his hand in front of Sam's face. "Any of these things blowin' up your skirt, pal?"

Sam looked at the picture he had drawn. "Wait. I've seen this," he inhaled sharply, holding it up.

"Seen what?" Dean asked, confused. Sam got up and went to search through his duffel bag, frantically taking things out as he searched for something in particular. "What are you doing?"

Sam pulled out a photo of their family from when he was a baby. He compared the tree in the photo to his drawing. They were identical. I looked over at the photo of Dad, Sam, Dean, and Mary. I winced at how perfect their family looked. Complete. Mary truly was a beautiful woman, and I could see where Dean and Sam had gotten their looks from.

"Dean, I know where we have to go next," Sam exclaimed, holding the two pictures in front of him. What had gotten into him?

Dean looked weirded out, and I was definitely feeling the same. "Where?"

"Back home - back to Kansas."

"Okay, random," Dean blanched. "Where'd that come from?"

"Alright, um, this photo was taken in front of our old house, right? The house where Mom died?"

Dean's face grew haggard. This subject was a touchy one for him. While Sam had been a baby when their mom was killed, Dean had been old enough to remember it, and didn't like to speak of it. "Yeah."

"And it didn't burn down, right? I mean, not completely, they rebuilt it, right?"

"I guess so, yeah. What the hell are you talkin' about?" Dean looked up at Sam like he had two heads. I walked up beside Dean, looking at the photo Sam held out next to his drawing. What had prompted Sam to think of that one specific tree and link it to a case?

"Okay, look, this is gonna sound crazy but... the people who live in our old house - I think they might be in danger."

"Why?" I asked, looking up at Sam. He looked like he really believed this, but what could have given him this assumption, and all out of the blue?

"Uh... it's just, um... look," he stuttered out, trying to find the words to say, but he came up blank. I quirked an eyebrow at him as he just made himself look suspicious. "Just trust me on this, okay?"

He turned around, and Dean stood up, making a move to follow him. "Wait, whoa, whoa, trust you?"

"Yeah."

"Come on, man, that's weak. You gotta give me a little bit more than that." I could see Dean was getting worried; there was something going on with Sam. Something that he was hiding.

"I can't really explain it is all."

"Well tough," Dean snapped. "I'm not goin' anywhere until you do."

"I have these nightmares," Sam started.

"We've noticed," I muttered, and Dean nodded in agreement with me.

"And sometimes... they come true."

It was like hitting a brick wall. Wait, what? My mind sped up, trying to comprehend what Sam had just said. His dreams, come true? That wasn't possible. The words ran over and over in my head, but they just didn't make sense.

"Come again?" Dean asked, stunned, his brain clearly on a similar path as mine.

"Look, I dreamt about Jessica's death - for days before it happened."

My heart went out to him. I'd been told all about Sam's girlfriend, who was killed by the same monster that killed their mother. For him to have dreamt about it before it actually happened, then he must be feeling guilty...

"Sam, people have weird dreams, man. I'm sure it's just a coincidence." Dean sat down on the bed, looking weary. Not that I blamed him, this was a different level of weird.

"No, I dreamt about the blood dripping, her on the ceiling, the fire, everything, and I didn't do anything about it, 'cause I didn't believe it. And now I'm dreaming about that tree, about our house, and about some woman inside screaming for help. I mean, that's where it all started, man, this has to mean something, right?"

"I don't know," Dean exhaled, sounding overwhelmed by this new development. I sat down next to him, looking up at Sam who plopped down on a chair across from us.

"What do you mean you don't know, Dean? This woman might be in danger. I mean, this might even be the thing that killed Mom and Jessica!"

"Oh Sammy," I murmured sadly. He shouldn't get his hopes up that revenge will come that easy.

"Alright, just slow down, would ya?" Dean snapped as he stood up and started pacing. "I mean, first you tell me that you've got the Shining? And then you tell me that I've gotta go back home? Especially when..."

"When what?" Sam prompted gently.

Dean's face turned sad. "When I swore to myself that I would never go back there?"

"Look," Sam murmured softly. "Dean, we have to check this out. Just to make sure."

"I know we do," he sighed, sounding resigned.

xxx

We pulled up out front of a modest, new home. It felt weird to me. This was my dad's old home, and my brothers', but I had no connection with this house. I stepped out of the Impala with my brothers, noticing the skeptical look on Dean's face. Apparently, Sam noticed too, because he asked "You gonna be all right, man?"

"Let me get back to you on that," he replied as they walked up to the front door. Sam knocked twice, and within a few seconds a kind looking blonde woman answered.

"Yes?" she asked, looking at them curiously.

"Sorry to bother you, ma'am, but we're with the Fed-"

"I'm Sam Winchester, this is my brother, Dean, and our little sister Alexandra. We used to live here." I looked around sheepishly. I had never lived in this house. What made me nervous was the desire to have grown up here. The desire to be a full sibling to my brothers, to have shared the same childhood memories, the good and the bad. "You know, were just driving by, and we were wondering if we could come see the old place."

"Winchester," she mused. "Yeah, that's so funny. You know, I think I found some of your photos the other night."

Dean looked surprised. "You did?"

Jenny nodded and stepped to the side. "Come on in." We followed her into the house, where she led us to the kitchen. A young girl was doing homework at the table, while a small boy was bouncing around in his playpen.

"Juice! Juice! Juice!" the boy demanded, and I couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

"That's Ritchie. He's kind of a juice junkie." She walked over to the fridge and took a sippy cup out which she handed to the boy. "But hey, at least he won't get scurvy. Sari, this is Sam, Dean, and Alexandra. They used to live here."

"Hi," Sari said quietly. Dean and I waved at her.

"Hey, Sari," Sam said with his genuine big brother smile.

"So, you just moved in?" Dean inquired, looking around at the moving boxes still laying around.

"Yeah, from Wichita," she responded.

"You got family here, or...?"

"No. I just, uh... needed a fresh start, that's all." From the way she spoke, I figured there was more to her story. "So, new town, new job - I mean, as soon as I find one. New house."

"So, how you liking it so far?" Sam asked, starting to hint at the reason why they had come.

"Well, uh, all due respect to your childhood home - I mean, I'm sure you had lots of happy memories here, but this place has its issues." Yeah, happy memories of having your mother burned alive on the ceiling, I couldn't help thinking. I wondered what Sam and Dean thought about being back here. It had to be really hard for them, but neither showed that they were suffering.

Sam looked intrigued and worried at the same time. "What do you mean?"

"Well, it's just getting old. Like the wiring, you know? We've got flickering lights almost hourly." I jolted at that, and I noticed Dean's shoulders tense slightly.

"Oh, that's too bad. What else?" he asked, trying not to appear too desperate for information.

"Um... sink's back up, there's rats in the basement," she paused and looked at them sheepishly. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to complain."

Dean waved it off. "No. Have you seen the rats or have you just heard scratching?"

"It's just the scratching, actually."

"Mom?" Sari asked her mother, who knelt down next to her. "Ask them if it was here when they lived here."

"What, Sari?" Sam asked gently.

"The thing in my closet," the kid murmured, looking a bit frightened. I stiffened. There was something in this house. I had a chill running down my spine, and I could tell there was something off about this place. Everything in my gut was telling me to get out now.

"Oh, no, baby, there was nothing in their closets. Right?" She asked the last part to Sam and Dean, looking for some help.

"Right. No, no, of course not," Sam rushed to reassure, even though he was obviously lying.

"She had a nightmare the other night," Jenny explained.

"I wasn't dreaming. It came into my bedroom - and it was on fire." Our expressions turned to ones of shock, and I felt my heart sink. Maybe this was the thing that killed my brothers' mom.

xxx

As we walked back to the car, Sam was practically vibrating. "You hear that? A figure on fire?" Sam demanded.

"And that woman, Jenny, that was the woman in your dreams?" Dean asked, sounding like he wished Jenny was anything but the woman in Sam's dreams.

"Yeah, and you hear what she was talking about? Scratching, flickering lights, both signs of a malevolent spirit."

"Yeah, well, I'm just freaked out that your weirdo visions are comin' true," Dean snapped. I had to agree with him. Seeing the future? That was a whole new level of weird.

"Well, forget about that for a minute," Sam sounded a little panicked. "The thing in the house, do you think it's the thing that killed Mom and Jessica?"

"I don't know!"

"Well, I mean, has it come back or has it been here the whole time?"

"Sam," I said quietly, trying to relax the situation a bit. "I think Dad would have ensured that it hadn't hung around here after..." I trailed off, unable to blatantly talk about their mother being murdered.

"Well, maybe it came back," he responded, hardly looking at me as he kept his gaze firmly on Dean.

"Or maybe it's something else entirely, Sam, we don't know yet," Dean was starting to sound tired again. It had to be hard on him, knowing his brother was having visions of people dying.

"Well, those people are in danger, Dean. We have to get them out of that house."

"And we will."

"No, I mean now."

"And how you gonna do that, huh?" Dean snapped. "You got a story that she's gonna believe?"

"Then what are we supposed to do?" Neither me, nor Dean answered, as we climbed into the Impala and sped off. All our minds filled with questions, and none of us had any answers.

xxx

"Grab yourself a couple snacks kid," Dean said, as he began to fill up the Impala with fuel at the local gas station. Nodding, I walked inside the small shop and walked down the aisles. The unhappy emotions between Dean and Sam was incredible, the tension was unbearable. It made me ill just being around them, knowing that they wanted to scream and yell at each other until their throats were raw.

Shaking my head, I grabbed a bag of salt and vinegar chips, a bottle of water, and a turkey sandwich as Dean walked through the front doors. Sam came out of the bathroom, and he grabbed a chicken wrap and a water. Going to the front counter, Dean paid for everything before we headed back into the Impala.

As we climbed in, Dean slammed the door. "We just gotta chill out, that's all. You know, if this was any other kind of job, what would we do?"

Sam sighed. "We'd try to figure out what we were dealing with. We'd dig into the history of the house."

"Exactly, except this time, we already know what happened."

"Yeah, but how much do we know? I mean, how much do you actually remember?"

"About that night, you mean?" Dean asked, his tone growing tense. I stiffened in the back seat. I'd been told about that night by Dad, but he hadn't shared more than the obvious details.

"Yeah," Sam said quietly, gently prompting Dean to open up about it. I guess they hadn't discussed it much either, not that I blamed them.

"Not much," he sighed. "I remember the fire... the heat. And then I carried you out the front door."

"You did?" Sam's voice was filled with surprise.

"Yeah, what, you never knew that?" Dean also sounded shocked. I felt like I was intruding on their moment, just another reminder that I was not a part of their lives. I was just a new burden to carry along with their already loaded baggage.

Sam shook his head. "No."

"And, well, you know Dad's story as well as I do. Mom was... was on the ceiling. and whatever put her there was long gone by the time Dad found her."

"And he never had a theory about what did it?"

"If he did, he kept it to himself," Dean sighed. "God knows we asked him enough times."

"Okay. So, if we're gonna figure out what's going on now... we have to figure out what happened back then. And see if it's the same thing."

"Yeah. We'll talk to Dad's friends, neighbors, people who were there at the time."

After a long pause, Sam spoke up again, his voice thick with emotion. "Does this feel like just another job to you?"

Dean never answered the question. "I'll be right back," he said as he opened the car door. "I gotta go to the bathroom." With that he walked away.

"Sammy?" I asked softly.

He turned around to look at me surprised. I cringed when I realized that he'd forgotten I was here. "Yes, honey?" he said gently.

"I want to sit this hunt out," I replied, looking down at my hands unable to meet his eyes. "Can you please ask Dean to drop me off at the motel room? If not, I can walk..."

"Are you sure?" he asked, surprise in his voice. I just nodded in response. "Okay, I'll tell him."

When Dean came back, Sam told him what I wanted. Not saying a word, Dean drove back to the motel and parked the car. I grabbed my bags, and the room key from Sam, and stepped out of the Impala. "Be careful, please," I said softly, shutting the door before they could say anything. Then I walked into the motel room, and collapsed on the bed, sobbing profusely.

xxx

 **Cut to Sam and Dean's perspective.**

Sam and Dean walked into the house of Missouri Moseley, and sat on the couch waiting. A middle-aged woman was escorting a man out of the house. "Alright, there. Don't you worry 'bout a thing. Your wife is crazy about you," she said as the man thanked her and she shut the door behind him. "Whew. Poor bastard. His woman is cold-bangin' the gardener."

"Why didn't you tell him?" Dean asked.

"People don't come here for the truth. They come for good news," she answered. The boys stared at her and she rolled her eyes. "Well? Sam and Dean, come on already, I ain't got all day."

They followed her into another room. "Well, lemme look at ya. Oh, you boys grew up handsome." She pointed at Dean. "And you were one goofy-lookin' kid, too."

Missouri reached over and grabbed Sam's hands, giving him a sad look. "Oh, honey... I'm sorry about your girlfriend. And your father - he's missing?"

"How did you know all that?" Sam asked, genuinely shocked.

"Well, you were just thinkin' it just now." Sam's eyebrows raised.

"Well, where is he? Is he okay?" Dean asked desperately.

"I don't know..."

"Don't know? Well, you're supposed to be a psychic, right?" Dean snapped, growing impatient.

"Boy, you see me sawin' some bony tramp in half? You think I'm a magician? I may be able to read thoughts and sense energies in a room, but I can't just pull facts out of thin air. Sit please." Sam smirked at her remarks. As Dean sat down, she snapped at him. "Boy, you put your foot on my coffee table, I'm 'a whack you with a spoon!"

"I didn't do anything!" he exclaimed.

"But you were thinkin' about it."

"Okay, so, our dad - when did you first meet him?" Sam asked.

"He came for a reading. A few days after the fire," she explained. "I just told him what was really out there in the dark. I guess you could say... I drew back the curtains for him."

"What about the fire? Do you know about what killed our mom?" Dean asked, leaning forward.

"A little. Your daddy took me to your house. He was hoping I could sense the echoes, the fingerprints of this thing."

"And could you?" Sam asked.

"I..." she shook her head.

"What was it?" Sam gently encouraged.

"I don't know. Oh, but it was evil," Missouri sighed.

They explained to her about Sam's vision, and what they had learned so far. "So... you think somethin' is back in that house?"

"Definitely," Sam answered confidently.

"I don't understand," she mused.

"What?"

"I haven't been back inside, but I've been keepin' an eye on the place, and it's been quiet. No sudden deaths, no freak accidents. Why is it actin' up now?"

"I don't know. But Dad disappearing, and Jessica dying and now this house all happening at once - it just feels like something's starting," Sam explained.

"That's a comforting thought," Dead grumbled, crossing his arms.

"There's somethin' else I wanna talk to you boys about," Missouri said, leaning forward, her face serious. "I understand you've recently added a new addition to your hunting party."

"Yes, our half-sister, Lexi," Sam answered, looking at her curiously. "She's back at the motel."

"Yes, sobbing her little heart out on the bed," she answered sourly. The boys' expressions turned to ones of shock. "That little baby is suffering more than even you Sam."

Dean looked at Sam, quirking an eyebrow, before turning back to Missouri. "What's wrong with her?"

"You're both as stunned as a sack of hammers," she snapped, looking at both boys in disappointment. "That sweet child has been raised with you two as her idols; she's longed for her entire life to meet her two big brothers, and you two have been treating her as an afterthought. Now I know you've got big things to do, but don't forget your family. You are all this girl has. She just lost her mother, who by the sounds of her thoughts, was quite abusive."

"Her mother abused her?" Sam asked, angry at the very idea.

"Not in the direct sense of the term. She was raised first and foremost a soldier. Imperfections were not tolerated, except when her Daddy was around. So I suggest you boys get your heads out of your behinds, and get to know your baby sister. And Dean, you stop calling her 'kid.'"

Both boys stared at her shocked, minds trying to wrap around what she'd just said. "First, I'll come with you to check out your old house."

xxx

 **Back to Lexi's Point of View**

I sobbed for the better part of an hour, until I couldn't produce anymore tears. My mind kept thinking about how much I wanted a close relationship with her brothers. I wanted to be treated as an equal, and I wanted to know about them as much as I wanted them to know about me. I was never a part of their conversations, even when I offered helpful tidbits.

They don't view me as someone they want to have around. Rather as someone that they both got stuck with. An afterthought.

I ended up staying in the room for hours, but nobody showed up. I wondered if the might have left me, decided it was easier to ditch me than take me along with them. But I knew Sam wouldn't do that. He was a bit too soft to leave me behind. I think.

I waited until the evening, before putting on my belt, and making the decision to go check on my brothers. The house was several blocks away from the motel, so it wouldn't take too long to get there. Opening the front door, I pushed my shoulders back, took a deep breath, and walked outside.

The walk was surprisingly quick, but my desperation to make sure my brothers were ok made me walk faster. I had a sinking feeling in my gut that something was wrong. Within twenty minutes, I arrived at the front of the old Winchester house. The lights were flickering through the windows, and a heavy chill lingered in the air. There was an angry spirit in that house.

Grabbing my handgun, loaded with rock salt, I flicked the safety off and walked up the front steps. Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I pushed open the front door. I could hear loud banging coming from the kitchen, and as I peered around the corner, I yelped when a bunch of knives flew across the kitchen, plunging into the table on its side. Dean peaked out over the table, his eyes looking around before locking on her. "Lexi?!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to help," I shrugged. I spotted a small bag on the counter next to a hole in the wall. They were trying to purify the whole house. Brilliant. Running over, I quickly grabbed the bag and stuffed it into the wall. A flash lit up the room, then the chill left the air. "Where's Sammy?"

"Upstairs," Dean said, pushing the table away from himself. "Come on. Stay close." The two of them ran upstairs.

"Sam!" Dean shouted as he spotted their brother, lying on the floor with a lamp cord wrapped around his neck, cutting off his air supply. Rushing forward, Dean knelt over Sam, trying desperately to pull the cord from around his neck, but it wouldn't budge.

Looking around, I spotted the bag next to the wall. I took my gun and shot a few loads at the wall, creating a small whole, which I stuffed the bag into. A blinding white light flashed, before everything settled. Dean quickly unraveled the cord from around Sam's neck, and pulled him into a fierce hug. I looked at them with a relieved and pained expression. They were so close; had such strong love for one another. I just didn't fit in their life. I could see that now.

We quickly purified the rest of the house, before we all went to stand in the damaged kitchen. "You sure this is over?" Sam asked.

Missouri nodded. "I'm sure. Why? Why do you ask?" She sounded slightly suspicious. I, for one, thought that it had been too easy. There had to be more than this.

"Never mind. It's nothing I guess," Sam sighed. The front door opened, and we could hear Jenny enter.

"Hello? We're home," she announced before walking into the kitchen. Her jaw dropping in shock. "What happened?"

"Hi, sorry," Sam said sheepishly. "Um, we'll pay for all of this." Dean looked confused at that.

"Don't you worry. Dean's gonna clean up this mess," Missouri said. When Dean didn't move, she snapped at him. "Well, what are you waiting for, boy? Get the mop. And don't cuss at me!"

I giggled softly, and she turned to look at me and winked.

xxx

"Alright, so, tell me again, what are we still doing here?" Dean asked, sounding bored as we sat outside Jenny's house in the Impala.

"I don't know. I just... I still have a bad feeling," Sam explained. I shared in his feeling. Something about the situation still seemed... off.

"Why? Missouri did her whole Zelda Rubenstein thing, the house should be clean, it should be over," Dean rubbed a hand across his face. This case was wearing on him.

"Yeah, well, probably. But I just wanna make sure, that's all."

"Yeah, well, problem is I could be sleeping in a bed right now," Dean sassed back, before he slid down his seat and shut his eyes. Sam looked up and shouted.

"Dean. Look, Dean!" All our eyes look up at the bedroom window, and could see Jenny screaming. We rushed out of the car and towards the house.

"You grab the kids Lexi, we'll go get Jenny," Dean shouted. I nodded and darted towards the kids' bedrooms.

I grabbed Ritchie from his toddler bed, and darted quickly into Sari's bedroom where she was screaming for help. Grabbing her hand, I pulled her behind me. "Don't look!" I shouted. We got to the bottom of the stairs, I pushed Ritchie into Sari's arms. "Take your brother outside as fast as you can. Go now!"

Something grabbed me and threw me to the floor. Disoriented, I saw Sari scream and run outside with her brother before I was dragged backwards into another room. Pain shot up my spine as I crashed into a table.

Before I could get my bearings, I was thrown into the cabinets. Hitting them hard, my head snapped back upon impact. Then I dropped to the floor hard. In a corner of my brain that still functioned, I could hear an axe chopping down the front door. "Lexi?" my brothers' voices shouted. "Lexi!"

A figure on fire was moving towards me just as Dean and Sam came into the room. Dean had a rifle in his hand, which he raised to point at the figure. "No, don't! Don't!" Sam yelled, moving the rifle away from the figure.

"What, why?!" Dean shouted back, confused.

"It's her," I said, voice weak. I knew who the spirit was, or at least, the one in front of us. There was something else here too, something much more violent.

"I can see her now," Sam murmured, looking at the figure in awe. The fire suddenly vanished, leaving in front of them the figure of Mary Winchester. Dean's expression softened, and he lowered his gun.

"Mom?" Dean asked softly. Mary smiled, taking a step closer to him and smiled. She said his name quietly.

Turning to Sam, she murmured his name as well. "I'm sorry," she said, tears pooling over her cheeks.

"For what?" Sam asked, tears moistening his eyes. Mary never answered as she moved to stand in front of me. I stiffened as she stared at me.

"Lexi," she smiled fondly. "You look so much like your father." I was frozen as I stared at her.

Stepping back, Mary looked up towards the ceiling angrily. "You get out of my house, and let go of my children!" She suddenly burst into flames, entirely engulfed and hit the ceiling. Then she and the fire vanished, and the invisible hold on me released. I slumped to the floor, battered and bruised from the table and cabinets.

"Now it's over," Sam said, as he and Dean both rushed to my side. The world was starting to tilt on its axis, and the last thing I saw was my brothers' worried faces as my eyes rolled back into my head and everything went black.


	5. Asylum

**Author's note: Thanks for sticking with it this far. I understand Sam / Dean may be out of character at times, but that's how I'm writing them. So yes, their characters' choices may be different from what you think they would actually do. Understand please, that this is my take on the characters, even though I own nothing than Alexandra M.J. Winchester.**

 **WARNING - MENTIONS OF CHILD ABUSE**

Chapter 4: Asylum

The sound of pen scratching on paper was agony to my aching head. It felt like someone was digging their way out of my skull with a pick-axe. Groaning a bit, I peeled open my eyes slowly, wincing as I was met with the fluorescent lights of a motel room. I lifted my hands up and rubbed at my face, wishing I was still asleep. I felt like I'd been hit by a bus.

"Lexi! You're awake," I heard a voice say, as footsteps approached me. It was Sam. I was lying on a bed in a motel room, a different motel room than the one we had been at in Kansas. "We were getting worried."

Sam sat down on the bed beside me, and Dean entered my field of vision by sitting on the bed beside mine. "Where am I?" I asked, my voice sounding scratchy like sandpaper.

"We're in Nebraska," Dean answered. I moved to sit up and grunted at the muscle soreness and deep ache in my bones. I could remember being thrown into the cupboards by the Poltergeist.

"Take it easy," Sam murmured gently, reaching down to help prop me up against the headboard. Dean placed a pillow behind my head, and I smiled softly at them.

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"A full day. We've been driving for most of it though. You were pretty roughed up by that spirit, and your body's been taking the time to recover."

Dean passed me a bottle of water and a couple of painkillers, which I took gratefully. "Lexi," Sam started gently. I furrowed my brows at his tone. It sounded like he was about to talk about something serious.

"Are you going to send me away?" I asked, biting my bottom lip.

Their jaws dropped open at almost the exact same time. It would have been funny if not for the circumstances. "What? No! Why would you think that?" Sam exclaimed. Dean shook his head at her.

I shrugged, looking down at my lap. I saw Dean move from the corner of my eye, and was stunned when he cupped my chin and made me look at him. "Lexi, did your mother treat you poorly?" he asked, looking at me seriously.

At that question, I jerked away from him as if I'd been burned. "What do you mean?" I asked.

"Missouri told us that you were mistreated growing up. Could you tell us about your mom?" Sam prompted gently.

I looked up at them, my blue eyes round with uncertainty. "What do you want to know?" I asked nervously.

"Anything you want to share," Dean replied, reaching down to hold my hand, while Sam grabbed the other one. I almost teared up at their tenderness.

"Well, she was my mom," I started. "I loved her. She raised me in a small town, in a small farm house. I never had any friends. Every day I trained, I learned, I was tested. Nothing was done for fun. I was expected to behave like an adult, to not make silly kid mistakes. If I messed up, she..." I trailed off, unable to make the words come out.

Leaning forward, I shifted so that both boys could see my back. Reaching around, I started to life the back of my shirt. Knowing what I wanted, Sam gently pulled up my shirt to expose my back, and I heard both of them suck in sharp breaths. My back was littered with old lash marks, from belts, or a wooden tool. Welts had formed and left weird looking pale scars, that had a shimmery appearance to them. There were more than I could count.

Dean's hands balled up into fists on his lap, while I felt Sam's fingers trace the marks lightly. "I was two the first time she struck me."

"Lexi, I'm so sorry," Sam murmured, pulling down my shirt and turning me around. Before I could say or do anything, he pulled me onto his lap and tucked me into his chest, strong arms wrapped around me as if he could shield me from everything dangerous in the world. "You didn't deserve it. None of it."

Grabbing onto his shirt, I tucked my face into his chest as the tears started to pool. "She would act nicer whenever Dad came around. He doesn't know about her hitting me. He would be mad if he found out."

"Why did you never tell him?" Dead asked, his voice sounding pained.

"Mom said if I ever wanted to meet you two, I could never tell Dad that she struck me." Dean's arms reached over and plucked me from Sam's lap, as he tucked me into his chest. I felt his chin come to rest on the top of my head. "Are you guys gonna let me stay with you, or are you going to send me away?"

"You're not going anywhere, sweetheart," Dean said softly, squeezing me tighter. "You're a part of this family now, and we stick together."

"Thank you," I hugged him back. Looking over at Sammy through my teary eyes, I gave him a watery smile.

xxx

While I sat with Dean, he turned on the T.V. and put on an old western movie. It was kind of boring to me, but I couldn't be happier than when I was tucked into his side. Sam was on the phone, talking to someone. "No, Dad was in California last we heard from him. We just thought... he comes to you for 'munitions... maybe you've seen him in the last few weeks. Just, call us if you hear anything. Thanks."

"Caleb hasn't heard from him?" Dean asked, looking over his shoulder at Sam.

"Nope," he sighed. "And neither has Jefferson or Pastor Jim. What about the journal? Any leads in there?"

"No, same as the last time I looked," Dean replied. He had given up flipping through Dad's old book and placed it on the night stand. "Nothing I can make out... I love the guy, but I swear, he writes like friggin' Yoda."

"You know, maybe we should call the Feds. File a missing person."

"We've talked about this," Dean sounded agitated. Not that I blamed him. I haven't seen Dad in a long time, he never even made it to mom's funeral. "Dad'd be pissed if we put the Feds on his tail."

"I don't care anymore," Sam exhaled slowly.

Dean's cellphone chimed, and he reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. "After all that happened in Kansas, I mean... he should've been there, Dean. You said so yourself. You tried to call him and... nothing. Hell, he should have been with Lexi when she arrived. He left her on her own!"

"I know!" Dean snapped, flipping open his cell. "Huh, I don't believe it."

"What?" Sam asked, stepping over towards Dean.

"It's, uh... it's a text message. It's coordinates." Standing up from the couch, Dean walked over to grab the laptop. I turned off the T.V. and moved to follow, watching over his shoulder as he entered the coordinates in the computer.

"You think it was Dad?" I asked softly.

"He's given us coordinates before."

"The man can barely work a toaster, Dean!" Sam snapped, obviously not believing it was Dad who sent them.

"Sam, it's good news! It's one step closer."

"Well, was there a number on the caller ID?"

"Nah, it said 'unknown'."

"Well, where do the coordinates point?"

"That's the interesting part. Rockford, Illinois."

"Ok, and that's interesting how?" Jeez Sam was in a bit of a mood today. He was always so touchy when it came to conversations about Dad, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"I checked the local Rockford paper. Take a look at this," Dean said, turning the laptop so Sam could see too.

"This cop, Walter Kelly, comes home from his shift, shoots his wife, then puts the gun in his mouth, blows his brains out. And earlier that night, Kelly and his partner responded to a call at the Roosevelt Asylum."

"Okay, I'm not following. What does this have to do with us?"

"Dad earmarked the same asylum in the journal," Dean said as he stood up and grabbed the journal. He flipped through the pages until he came to the page on the asylum. "Here. Seven unconfirmed sightings, two deaths - till last week at least. I think this is where he wants us to go."

"This is a job... Dad wants us to work a job," Sam snorted.

"Maybe he's there?" I questioned, looking up at Sam.

Sam's expression softened as he looked down at me. "Maybe he's not? I mean, he could be sending us there, by ourselves, to hunt this thing."

"Who cares!" Dean exclaimed, tossing his hands up. "If he wants us there, it's good enough for me.

"This doesn't strike you as weird? The texting? The coordinates?"

"Sam! Dad's tellin' us to go somewhere, we're going," Dean said, a tone of finality in his voice. Sam pulled a face and sighed. I rolled my eyes at the pair.

xxx

After a long, boring drive, we finally arrived at a bar in Rockford, Illinois. Dean walked in first, while Sam and I hung back, watching. Dean walked up towards a man sitting at the bar. He was dressed in an old, worn jacket, and looked unimpressed when Dean walked up. "You're Daniel Gunderson. You're a cop, right?" Dean asked.

"Yeah," the guy said, taking a sip of his beer.

"Huh, I'm uh, Nigel Tufnel," Dean lied, sitting on the stool across from Daniel. "Mind if I ask you a couple of questions, about your partner?"

"Yeah, I do," Daniel tilted his head forward, brows furrowing slightly. "I'm just tryin' to have a beer here."

"That's okay, I swear it won't take that long. I just want to get the story in your words." Dean was poking the bear, I just hoped he didn't get jumped. I noticed a bartender looking at me, and I wondered if we were going to get kicked out since I was too young to come in here.

"A week ago, my partner was sitting in that chair. Now he's dead. You gonna ambush me here?" Daniel kept his voice low, but anybody could see he was getting mad from the tense set of his shoulders. I hoped Dean knew what he was doing. Sam grabbed my hand and tugged me along after him.

"Sorry, but I need to know what happened," Dean said, leaning forward.

"Hey buddy," Sam snapped, pushing Dean aside roughly. I winced, knowing that Sam had hit him a little hard, but I guess they had to make it look real. "Why don't you leave the poor guy alone! The man's an officer. Why dontcha show a little respect!"

Dean stared at Sam. His eyes darted down to mine, and he winked, before turning and stalking off. I quietly followed, hoping to go unnoticed by Daniel, so that he didn't suspect anything.

I could hear Daniel say, "You didn't have to do that," before the door shut behind Dean and me.

"Are you ok?" I asked him quietly as he picked me up and placed me on the hood of the Impala before sitting beside me. When he looked at me confused, I added: "Sam hit you pretty hard."

A loud laugh escaped him. "I've had a lot worse, sweetheart. I'm alright." Reaching over, he affectionately ruffled my hair, and I smiled at him.

We sat waiting for about a half hour before Sam came strutting out of the bar. "Shoved me kinda hard in there, buddy boy," Dean said, a small smirk on his face.

"I had to sell it, didn't I? It's method acting," Sam said in defense. I knew better. He'd wanted to shove his brother. There had been no need to be that rough. Boys...

"Huh?" Dean asked, confused.

"Never mind."

Dean rolled his eyes. "What'd you find out from Gunderson?"

"So, Walter Kelly was a good cop. Head of his class, even-keeled, he had a bright future ahead of him," Sam leaned on the roof of the Impala as he spoke.

"What about at home?"

"He and his wife had a few fights, like everybody, but he was mostly smooth sailing. They were even talking about having kids."

"Alright, so either Kelly had some deep-seated crazy waiting to bust out, or something else did it to him," Dean said, opening the door to the Impala. He indicated for me to get in, and I smiled when I realized he was letting me sit in the front again. I piled in and sat in the middle.

"Right," Sam agreed.

"What'd Gunderson tell you about the asylum?"

"A lot."

xxx

We pulled up outside of the Roosevelt Asylum, which was surrounded by an eight-foot chain link fence. Sam and Dean turned to look down at me as we stood next to the fence. I groaned when I looked at how high it was. "Does this mean I have to sit this hunt out?" I asked.

"Ha-ha, no way, we'll get you over sweetheart," Dean chuckled. "Sam, you climb over first to help her when she gets to the other side."

Sam quickly scaled the fence and landed gracefully on the other side. I watched him in envy and awe. "Wow, that was so cool!" I exclaimed. Sam winked at me.

"Ok, so just take your time. We'll be below you in case you fall to catch you," Dean said softly, as I slowly pulled myself up the fence. It wasn't hard to climb, but when I got to the top and had to switch sides, I froze as I saw how high I was.

"S-Sammy," I groaned, shaking a little when I started to crawl over the top. He looked small down on the other side, and Sam never looked small.

"It's ok honey," Sam said gently, his voice calm. "You're halfway there. You can do it."

"Try not to look down, Lexi," Dean added, voice soothing. Swallowing, and trying to find my courage, I moved carefully to the other side of the fence and began to climb down. After slowly scaling, I felt Sam's hands grab me under my armpits.

"You can let go now," he said softly. Letting go of the fence slowly, Sam carried

me and placed me on the ground gently. "See, you did it!"

"Look out," Dean said, as he scaled the fence swiftly. When he reached the top, he bent half way over, grabbing the fence on the other side, and flipped himself over, to land on his feet gracefully.

"Wow! That was amazing!" I said with a wide grin.

"I'm Batman," he said seriously, causing me to laugh. Sam rolled his eyes as he grabbed my hand. Together, we went into the asylum.

xxx

"So apparently the cops chased the kids here... into the south wing," Sam said, pointing to a sign over one door.

"South wing, huh? Wait a second," Dean flipped open Dad's journal. "1972. Three kids broke into the south wing, only one survived. Way he tells it, one of his friends went nuts and started lighting up the place."

"So, whatever's going on, the south wing is the heart of it," Sam mused.

"But if the kids are spelunking the asylum, why aren't there a ton more deaths?"

My hands reached up and touched some broken chains on the door. "They look like they're usually chained up."

"Yeah, to keep people out. Or to keep something in," Dean murmured. They all shared a look before Sam slowly pushed open the door.

As we walked down one of the hallways, Dean said to Sam, "Let me know if you see any dead people, Haley Joel."

"Dude, enough," Sam snapped. Oh great, here they were going to start another spat. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm serious. You gotta be careful, alright? Ghosts are attracted to that whole ESP thing you got going on."

"I told you, it's not ESP! I just have strange vibes sometimes. Weird dreams," Sam sighed.

"Yeah, whatever. Don't ask, don't tell." Dean waved his reader around.

"Anything?" I asked.

"No," he sighed. "It doesn't mean no one's home, though." I shuddered at the thought that we were being watched.

"Spirits can't appear during certain hours of the day," Sam explained, looking down at me with a soft eye.

"Yeah, the freaks come out at night," Dean said, humor in his voice.

We entered another room, and I shuddered at the sight. There were jars filled with weird things, and some old scary looking tools lying on operating tables. Creeping closer, I hung close to Dean. When he noticed that I looked nervous, he reached down and grabbed my hand, rubbing his thumb over my knuckles in a soothing motion. I smiled at him gratefully, and he responded with a wink.

"Man. Electro-shock. Lobotomies. They did some twisted stuff to these people. Kinda like my man Jack in Cuckoo's Nest," Dean said, making crazy eyes at Sam. When Sam ignored him, Dean's smile fell.

"So. What do you think? Ghosts possessing people?" Dean asked after a moment.

"Maybe, or maybe it's more like Amityville, or the Smurl hunting," Sam answered quietly. I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.

"Spirits driving them insane. Kinda like my man Jack in The Shining," Dean grinned.

"Dean. When are we going to talk about it?"

Dean's grin waivered. "Talk about what?"

"About the fact Dad's not here."

"Oh. I see. How 'bout... never."

"I'm being serious, man. He sent us here..."

"So am I, Sam. Look, he sent us here, he obviously wants us here. We'll pick up the search later."

"It doesn't matter what he wants," Sam snapped. I was getting so sick of them arguing about Dad. My temper was starting to rise, which didn't happen often.

"See. That attitude? Right there? That is why I always get the extra cookie."

"Dad could be in trouble, we should be looking for him. We deserve some answers, Dean. I mean, this is our family we're talking about."

"I understand that, Sam, but he's given us an order," Dean replied.

"So, what, we gotta always follow Dad's orders?"

"Would you two cut the crap?!" I snapped, yanking my hand away from Dean and crossing my arms. Glaring at the two of them, I stomped my foot angrily. Both their expressions turned surprised as they looked down at me. "Argue, argue, argue! And where does it get you? Nowhere! So just give it up and get over it!"

I noticed both their lips twitching in the beginning of a smile. "What's so funny?" I barked.

Dean chuckled. "You're just so cute when you're angry." Flabbergasted, I tossed my hands up in the air and rolled my eyes, ending the conversation.

After a few minutes, Dean picked up a small sign. "'Sanford Ellicott'... You know what we gotta do. We gotta find out more about the south wing. See if something happened here."

Dean walked away, leaving the sign with Sam, who stared down at it sourly.

xxx

A few hours later, Dean and I were standing outside the Medical Centre while Sam was inside talking to the Psychiatrist, who also had the name Ellicott. After a long while, Sam walked out, past us and he kept walking. Confused, Dean and I trotted up to match his pace.

"Dude! You were in there forever. What the hell were you talking about?" Dean asked.

"Just the hospital, you know," Sam said. He was lying. I wasn't sure how I knew, but there was something in my gut that told me he was being dishonest. Deciding to keep it to myself, I just listened.

"And...?" Dean drawled out.

"And the south wing? It's where they housed the really hard cases. The psychotics, the criminally insane."

"Sounds cozy," Dean said sarcastically. Yeah, as cozy as a bed of rusty nails.

"Yeah, and one night in '64, they rioted. Attacked staff. Attacked each other."

"So, the patients took over the asylum?"

"Apparently."

"Any deaths?"

"Some patients, some staff. I guess it was pretty gory. Some of the bodies were never even recovered, including our chief of staff, Ellicott." We stopped walking as we got to the Impala.

"Whaddaya mean, never recovered?"

"Cops scoured every inch of the place, but I guess the patients must've... stuffed the bodies somewhere hidden." I cringed. That meant there were rotting bodies in the walls or something. Nasty.

"That's grim," Dean said sourly. I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah. So, they transferred all the remaining patients and closed the hospital down."

"So, to sum it up, we've got a bunch of violent deaths and a bunch of unrecovered bodies."

"And a bunch of angry spirits."

"Good times. Let's check out the hospital tonight." My stomach twisted at that. The hospital was scary during the day. It was going to be terrifying at night.

xxx

Later that night, we got back to the Asylum, much to my displeasure. Sam had a video camera and a flashlight, while Dean had an EMF meter. In my hands, I had my salt gun, and I would be lying if I said I wasn't trembling a bit.

"Getting readings?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, big time," Dean said, the EMF going nuts in his hand.

"This place is orbing like crazy," Sam sounded shocked, as he peered through his video camera.

"Probably multiple spirits out and about," Dean replied. I shuddered at the thought. Who knew how many were here?

"And if these uncovered bodies are causing the haunting..."

"We gotta find them and burn them. Just be careful though. The only thing that makes me more nervous than a pissed off spirit... is the pissed off spirit of a psycho killer."

"How many do you think there are?" I asked, voice shaking a bit.

"I don't know sweetheart, but we'll get them all," Dean responded, eyes softening as he looked at me. He looked down at the loaded gun in my hand, and something flashed across his eyes, but I couldn't quite make it out. Pity, or guilt... or maybe regret. I wasn't sure. Maybe it was even a mix of all three?

We moved through the halls, and started going into separate rooms. I stuck close to Sam, as we searched for the spirits. After a few rooms, Sam shouted when he spotted something through the camera. Turning to look, I screamed when I saw a white-haired woman, one eye bloody and hanging out, moving towards us. "Dean? Dean!" Sam yelled. Immediately, Dean came running, pulling out his shotgun.

"Get down!" Dean yelled. Sam crouched low, grabbing my arm and pulling me down with him. A loud shot rang out, and the woman disintegrated. Looking around panting, I sagged against Sam's shoulder, trying to get my heart to calm down.

"That was weird," Sam sounded breathless.

"Yeah, you're telling me," Dean responded, reaching down to help me off the ground as Sam stood up.

"No, Dean, I mean it was weird that she didn't attack us."

"Looked pretty aggro from where I was standing," Dean said quietly as we kept moving.

"She didn't hurt us. She didn't even try! So, if she didn't wanna hurt us, then what did she want?"

Before Dean could answer, there was a noise from one of the rooms we were walking past. Instantly, I tensed up, as our heads turned to look into the room. Sam turned on the flashlight and shone in into the room, while Dean raised his shotgun. Reaching up, I grabbed the back of Sam's jacket, mentally chiding myself for my cowardice. My mom must be rolling in here grave at me being unable to face the monsters independently.

We quietly approached a metal bed on its side, covered in a ragged dirty white sheet. The top of a blonde head was visible over the bed, and we braced ourselves as Sam reached out and tipped the bed over. A girl was crouching facing the corner, and she spun around screaming in fear.

"It's alright," Dean said calmly. "We're not going to hurt you. It's okay. What's your name?" He lowered the gun.

"Katherine," the girl said breathlessly as she stood up slowly. "Kat."

"Okay. I'm Dean, this is Sam, and that's Lexi." I offered a small wave.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked quickly.

"Um, my boyfriend, Gavin..." she murmured. The girl had been terrified, I could tell. She was covered in sweat, and there was a slight tremble to her frame. Not that I blamed her. I wouldn't want to be by myself in this freaky place.

"Is he here?" Dean asked.

"Somewhere. He thought it would be fun, try and see some ghosts. I thought it was all just... you know. Pretend. I've seen things. I heard Gavin scream and..."

Dean interrupted. "Alright. Kat? Come on. Sam's gonna get you out of here and then we're gonna find your boyfriend."

"No! No. I'm not going to leave without Gavin. I'm coming with you." I was surprised at that. Most people wouldn't think twice about the chance to leave such a terrifying place.

"It's no joke around here, okay. It's dangerous," Dean explained.

"That's why I gotta find him," she replied firmly, pushing her shoulders back.

Dean and Sam shared a look before Sam shrugged. With a sigh, Dean nodded. "Alright, I guess we better split up then. Let's go."

I ended up going with Sam, while Kat went with Dean. Wandering down a few halls, Sam would call out for Gavin, hoping to get a reaction. I had my salt gun loaded and in my hands, hoping I wouldn't get too trigger happy if I got startled and shoot somebody.

As we entered a room, I noticed something on the floor. "Sam, look!" I pointed. It was a teenage boy, wearing jeans and an old hoodie, unconscious.

Sam crouched next to him and gently shook him. Gavin woke up and freaked out, trying to back away from Sam in his shock. "Hey, Gavin. It's okay, I'm here to help."

"Who are you?" Gavin asked, looking over Sam's shoulder at me. His eyes flashed to the gun in my hands, and I smiled sheepishly as I tucked it back in my belt.

"My name is Sam, and this is Lexi. Uh, we found your girlfriend."

"Kat?" Gavin said as he stood up. "Is she alright?"

"She's worried about you," I answered.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked him.

"I was running. I think I fell."

"You were running from what?" Sam prompted gently.

Gavin's face looked slightly scared. "There was... there was this girl. Her face. It was all messed up." He shuddered visibly.

"Okay listen, did this girl... did she try and hurt you?"

"What? No, she... uh..." he trailed off, looking like he didn't want to say what happened.

"She what?"

"She... kissed me." My brows shot up into my hairline as I tried to hide a surprised giggle. A ghost tried to kiss him?

"Uh... um... but... she didn't hurt you, physically?" Sam looked shocked too, and his brows were furrowed as he tried to understand what it meant. I myself had never heard of kissing ghosts.

"Dude! She kissed me. I'm scarred for life!" Gavin exclaimed.

Sam and I scoffed at the same time. "You got away lucky," I commented.

"Do you remember anything else?"

"She uh, actually, she tried to whisper something in my ear."

"What?" I asked.

"I don't know. I ran like hell."

A loud scream echoed through the halls, followed by some loud banging. "Kat!" Gavin exclaimed as he took off. Sam and I ran after him, my legs pumping hard to try and keep up with the two boys. I couldn't fall behind. Not in here.

As we approached, we could see Dean trying to pry open a heavy steel door. "What's going on?" Sam asked as we stopped next to Dean.

"She's inside with one of them," Dean snapped.

"Help me!" Kat screamed from beyond the door. I shivered at the amount of fear in her voice.

"Kat!" Gavin yelled back.

"Get me outta here!"

"Kat, it's not going to hurt you. Listen to me. You've got to face it. You've got to calm down," Sam explained, leaning close to the door.

Dean turned to Sam astonished. "She's gotta what?!" he exclaimed.

"I have to what?!" she yelled, obviously not liking Sam's idea.

"These spirits, they're not trying to hurt us, they're trying to communicate. You gotta face it. You gotta listen to it."

"You face it!"

"No! It's the only way to get out of there."

"No!"

"Kat, you can do it. You just have to look at it," I said through the door. "That's all you have to do and then it'll let you leave."

The room went silent. "Kat?" Gavin asked.

"Man, I hope you're right about this," Dean muttered.

"Yeah, me too," Sam replied. The door suddenly clicked and slowly opened. Kat was standing in the doorway.

"Oh, Kat." Gavin said, pulling his girlfriend to his side.

Sam went into the room to check it out, but turned back to Dean and shook his head.

"One thirty-seven," Kat murmured.

"Huh?" I asked, turning to face the girl.

"It whispered in my ear. One thirty-seven."

"Room number," Sam, Dean, and I said at the same time. That was kind of freaky.

We looked at each other. "Alright, so if these spirits aren't trying to hurt anyone..."

"Then what are they trying to do?" Dean finished.

"Maybe that's what they've been trying to tell us..."

"I guess we'll find out." Nodding, we turned back towards the two teenagers.

"So, now, are you guys ready to leave this place?" Dean asked, as if the answer wasn't obvious.

"That's an understatement," Kat muttered.

Dean turned and crouched down to my height. That couldn't be good. "Lexi, can you remember the way to the front door?" Dean asked me, tone very serious as his eyes searched mine. I nodded, biting my lip nervously. "Can you take these two back and get them outside? Then I want you to go get inside the Impala and we'll be out as soon as we've finished this."

Dean tucked the keys of the Impala into a pouch on the side of my belt. I looked up at him, my eyes wide. "Yeah, I can do that," I hoped my voice wasn't too shaky.

His hand came up and cupped the back of my neck gently. "None of these spirits will bother you now. Straight to the door, and get to the Impala." He stood up and gave me a gentle smile.

Nodding, I looked at Sam. "You both be careful, please."

"We'll be fine, Lexi," Sam answered.

Turning around, we parted ways. Me with the two teenagers, and Dean with Sam, going to look for room 137.

xxx

As we walked down the dark creepy hallways, Kat spoke up. "So. How do you guys know about all this ghost stuff?"

"It's our job. We were raised as hunters," I explained, not wanting to get into the details.

"Aren't you kind of young to be doing such dangerous work?"

I laughed at that comment. "I guess, but the idea is that I started young, so that means I should be really good once I'm grown up."

"Are those your brothers?"

"Half, but yes," I answered, not for the first time wishing that we were full siblings. "They're all I have."

We were silent for the remainder of the walk, until we got to the front entrance. Grateful to be getting out of here, I reached up to open the door, only to find it was locked. Gut sinking, I moved to another door and tried to open it. It was also locked. "That's not good," I murmured.

"Then we'll break it down," Gavin offered.

"That's not going to work," I sighed. The doors were heavy steel, and it was probably the ghosts keeping them in anyway. They weren't getting out.

"Then a window."

"They're barred," Kat responded, looking around.

"Then how are we supposed to get out?"

"That's the point. We're not. There's something in here that doesn't want us to leave." I was starting to get scared. Sure, the spirits they encountered so far had been harmless, but what if there was one or more in here that were violent?

"Those patients..." Kat trailed off.

I shook my head. "No... it's something else."

We ended up sitting against the doors, trying to pretend we were anywhere else in the world than locked inside a haunted asylum. I was wondering how my brothers were doing, and was about to pick up the emergency cell to call them, when it went off.

"Dean?" I answered. "We're locked in."

"Yeah, there's something down here. I want you to come down to the basement. We are going to need some help," Dean replied, the line was bad from poor service.

"The basement?" I murmured.

"Yes, hurry up!" Dean responded.

"On my way," I answered, sounding more confident than I felt. Turning to the two teens, I looked up at them. "You two have to stay here. I'll be back soon." They nodded in response.

I pretty much ran the whole way to the basement, adrenaline pumping, as the fight or flight response kicked in. As I busted down into the basement, I began searching through the hallways and rooms. "Dean! Sam!" I called, looking around. I raised my salt gun when a door behind me swung open.

That's never a good sign. Hoping I didn't regret my decision, I walked into the room. A shadow shifted behind a ragged curtain. Swallowing down my fear, I pushed open the curtain, but no one was there.

A sound behind me caused me to turn around, and I let out a scream. There was an old, beaten up man with grey messy hair and dirty clothes. Reaching up he grabbed my face as his hands started glowing. "Don't be afraid. I'm going to make you all better," he said quietly.

My head went back as my eyes rolled back into my head.

 **Cut to Dean and Sam's perspective.**

Dean and Sam walked around the corner, spotting Kat and Gavin crouching against the wall. "What are you still doing here? Where's Lexi?" Dean asked, expression worried when he realized his little sister wasn't with them.

"She went to the basement. You called her," Gavin said.

Dean's stomach sank. "I didn't call her," he replied. He shared a look with Sam.

"You said the basement, huh?" Sam asked.

They both nodded. "Alright. Watch yourselves," Dean said, as he and Sam turned to head to the basement.

They walked quickly, and walked down a set of stairs to the basement level. "She must be terrified," Sam murmured as they looked around.

Dean's stomach was in knots. Something lured their sister down here. He just hoped she was still alive to be terrified. "Lexi? Lexi, you down here?"

As they turned around, they jolted and automatically lifted their shotguns when they saw a figure in front of them. As soon as they realized it was their little sister, they lowered their guns quickly. "Lexi, Jesus, answer me when I'm calling you! You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered, looking eerily calm. They both figured she would have been scared out of her mind, but she looked almost... relaxed.

"You know it wasn't me who called you, right?" Dean asked, giving her a once over.

"Yeah, I know. I think something lured me down here," she replied. Still way too calm. Dean wondered if she had been so scared that her mind had locked down. He spotted dried tear tracks on her cheeks.

"I think I know who," Sam commented, looking at his sister with his head tilted. "That's what the spirits have been trying to tell us. You haven't seen him, have you?"

"No. How do you know it was him?"

"We found his log book. Apparently, he was experimenting on his patients, awful stuff. Makes lobotomies look like a couple of aspirin."

"But it was the patients who rioted?" Lexi asked, her head tilting.

"Yeah, they were rioting against Dr. Ellicott. Dr. Feelgood was working on some sort of, like, extreme rage therapy," Dean explained as they walked on. "He thought that if he could get his patients to vent their anger then they would be cured of it. Instead it only made them worse and worse and angrier and angrier. So, I'm thinking, what if his spirit is doing the same thing? To the cop? To the kids in the seventies, making them so angry they become homicidal... Come on, we gotta find his bones and torch 'em."

"How? The police never found his body."

"The log book said he had some sort of hidden procedure room down here somewhere where he'd work on his patients," Sam said.

"So, if I was a patient, I'd drag his ass down here, do a little work on it myself," Dean added.

"I don't know. It's sounds kinda..."

"Crazy?" Dean offered.

"Yeah," Lexi murmured.

They entered another room, and start looking around. "I looked everywhere already," Lexi said. "I didn't find a hidden room."

"Well, that's why they call it hidden..." the sound of wind met their ears. "You hear that?"

Dean and Sam crouched down. "There's a door here," Sam said.

The sound of a gun cocking met the boys' ears, and they turned around to see Lexi with her gun pointed at them. A trickle of blood ran down from her nose. "Step back from the door." Her voice was still freaky calm.

Their eyes darted from the gun to her face, as they stood up with their hands raised.

"Lexi, put the gun down," Dean said, his voice firm.

"Is that an order?" she smirked.

"Lexi, this isn't you. Please put the gun down and we'll figure this out," Sam said, taking a step forward. Lexi turned the gun on Sam.

"No, it's my turn to talk!" she snapped, brows furrowing as she started to get angry. "It wasn't fair. Dad took you both, raised you well, while I got left with the crazy woman who wanted a soldier. Why was I left behind?"

Dean and Sam's hearts went out to the kid. "What are you gonna do, Lexi? Gun's filled with rock salt. It's not gonna kill us."

Two shots rang out, one hitting each boy in the chest sending them flying backwards through the hidden door and onto the stone floor. "No, but it will hurt like hell," Lexi replied, her nose bleeding.

Both brothers were lying on the floor, regaining consciousness as they gasped for breath. The two of them were shocked that their sister actually shot them; whatever Ellicott had done to her was serious. Dean looked over at Sam. "You okay?" he asked, groaning as he did so.

"Yeah," Sam moaned back, trying to sit up. They froze when Lexi walked and stood looking down at them. A tear slid down her cheek, her hand trembled on the gun it held.

"Lexi, we gotta burn Ellicott's bones and all this will be over, and you'll be back to normal."

"I am normal," she answered back. "I'm just telling the truth for the first time. I mean, look at you two. Close as possible, best friends. You guys had it all. A mom that actually loved you, a father that took the time to raise you. While I was left. I got raised as an obedient soldier. Never good enough. Never perfect. And I'm still not enough. You guys would be happier if I'd never showed up!" Her voice had raised to a yelling tone.

"Little Sam, who pissed off Dad and abandoned his family to go to school. Only to wind up getting his girlfriend brutally murdered," Sam stiffened, still panting for his breath, his chest aching. She turned to Dean. "And perfect little Dean. Dad's good little solider. Trying in a futile effort to help Sam with his messed-up visions, while you're drowning your sorrows at the bottom of a bottle. How does it feel to know, that no matter what you do, Sam's still going to leave you, and you'll be all alone?"

Sam looked at Dean, who was starting to grow angry. "This isn't you talking, Lexi."

"That's the difference between us. I now have a mind of my own. I'm no longer a pathetic soldier, unlike you." She raised the gun to point at Dean's face.

"So, what are you gonna do, huh? Are you gonna kill me, sweetheart?" Dean's face offered the challenge, and Sam cussed when he saw what Dean was going to do.

"Don't hurt her," Sam shouted. "It is still her."

"I know that," Dean snapped back as he sat up knocking the gun from her hands. He used his leg to knock her to the ground. As soon as she met the ground, Dean pulled her hands behind her back. "What, did you think I was going to punch her?"

Sam finally got to his feet, groaning in pain from his chest. "Just wanted to be sure that you knew it was her."

Sam pulled back a curtain, and notices a tuft poking out of a closed cupboard. Pulling open the door, he spotted a really old corpse, and recoiled from the smell, gagging.

"Nasty," Sam gagged, trying to keep what was in his stomach down.

Grabbing the salt from his bag, he covered the body before coating it in kerosene. A gurney suddenly flew at him from across the room, knocking him to the ground. Dr. Ellicott appeared, grabbing onto Sam's face, his hands lighting up.

"Sam!" Dean shouted, about to release his sister and run to help when Sam found the lighter with one hand. He flicked it on and tossed it at the corpse. Dr. Ellicott let go of Sam as the remains started to burn. Sam crawled out of the way and they watched as the ghost turned back and crumbled to the ground.

Dean felt Lexi relax under his hold, and he released her. "You're not going to try and kill me, are ya sweetheart?"

Lexi stood up, and looked at her brothers. When she spotted the impact spots on their clothes from the rock salt, tears quickly pooled over her cheeks as a sob wracked her body. "I shot you. Oh my god, I shot you." Backing up, she hit the wall as her hands came up to cover her mouth. Instantly, the brothers reacted.

"Hey, Lexi," Sam said softly, crouching in front of her so they were eye to eye. "Breath honey. We're ok. It was just rock salt. That was Dr. Ellicott who made you do that."

"The things I said," her lower lip trembled as her arms wrapped around herself.

Sam pulled her against his chest, ignoring the pain from the shot, and scooped her up as he stood. Dean reached up and smoothed down her hair. "It's alright, sweetheart. We know it wasn't you speaking."

 **Cut to Lexi's perspective.**

Sam and Dean had wrapped me up in a blanket in the front seat while they went to see Kat and Gavin off. My mind still couldn't wrap around what had happened. I was fully aware of what I was doing, I knew it was wrong, but I had been so angry. They had reassured me that they were fine and that they knew it wasn't me, but I still felt so guilty.

I watched them wave goodbye to Gavin and Kat before they headed back to the Impala. They climbed in, and as Dean started the car and started to drive off, Sam put and arm around me and tucked me into his side. "How are you feeling, honey?" he asked gently.

Guilt ate away at my insides. I shot them, said terrible things to them, and they were worried about me. "I'm alright," I lied, leaning against his shoulder and shutting my eyes.

Later, when we got to the motel room, I stopped the boys. "Let me see," I said softly. They both sighed, before nodding, knowing that I wanted to know what damage I had done. They both pulled off their shirts, exposing the massive welts on each of their chests. Both welts were a mix of red and purple and were the size of my fist. Whimpering at the sight, I walked over tentatively, and stopped in front of them.

Unable to meet their eyes, I stared down at my linked hands. "I'm really sorry," I murmured.

"Don't worry about it, Lexi," Dean said quietly, putting his shirt back on as Sam did the same.

"There's nothing to forgive because it wasn't your fault," Sam said, his hand on my shoulder. "We've also had a lot worse."

Nodding, I stepped back and went rooting around in my bag. When my finger hit a cool jar, I pulled it out and handed it to Dean. "It's a salve for bruises. It works really well. Put a thin layer on and it'll clear it up in a few days."

"Thanks," Dean said, accepting the jar. Before he could say anything else, I turned and disappeared into the bathroom, locking the door behind me.

The tears were already starting to pool as I turned on the water to the shower. Stripping quickly, I climbed in under the hot water and sat under the stream. Mashing my face into my knees, loud sobs began to echo through the shower, and I hoped the water was enough to block the sound from my brothers.

 **Cut to Sam and Dean's Perspective.**

"Dude, do you hear that?" Sam asked, a heartbroken expression on his face.

Dean cocked his head and held his breath. The sound of soft sobs met his ears from the bathroom, and his face fell. Rubbing a hand over his head, he looked at Sam. "She'll get over it soon," he said quietly. "It was her first time experiencing a spirit's suggestion on a hunt. She's a tough kid."

Before Sam could say anything, his cell rang. Reaching down, he picked it up and held it up to his ear. "Hello?" Sam answered. After a moment, he stiffened and looked over at Dean. "Dad?"


	6. Scarecrow

Chapter 5: Scarecrow

By the time I had gotten out of the shower, I was completely dried of tears and was feeling a little better. Grabbing one of the thin motel towels, I wrapped up my long hair before grabbing another to wrap around my body. The bathroom was full of steam, and I couldn't see my reflection in the mirror.

I brushed my teeth and changed into a pair of sweats and a baggy t-shirt before letting my hair down out of the towel. Water droplets soaked through the shirt, a feeling I've always hated. Wrapping the towel around my shoulders, I put my hair on top to keep my shirt dry. Steeling myself to face my brothers without crying, I took a deep breath, pushed my shoulders back and stepped out of the bathroom.

Instantly, I could tell something was wrong. Both of my brothers were sitting on the beds, Dean with his closed phone in his hand. They both looked up at me when I walked in, and gave small smiles, but I could see that they were forced. "What happened?" I asked, moving over to them swiftly.

They looked at each other before turning back to me. It was Dean who spoke. "Dad phoned," he stated.

That was the last thing I was expecting. "Really? What did he say? Is he alright? Where is he?" I asked quickly.

"Woah there, easy tiger," Dean smirked. "One question at a time. He's fine, wouldn't tell us where he is, but he knows what it was that killed mom."

I blanched. Dad finally figured out what killed Mary? "He did?" I asked, voice low. "What was it?"

"A demon."

I'd learned a lot about demons from my mom; they were not to be messed with. They had more capabilities than anybody knew. It was hard to kill them, and they could possess you without anybody else knowing. "Are we going to go help him kill it?"

Dean shook his head, and I noticed Sam looking angry. "No. He's sending us to a case in Indiana. Three couples have gone missing there, and we need to go look into it. Get some sleep. We're heading out first thing in the morning."

Nodding, I picked the bed closest to the wall and curled up under the covers. The late-night asylum hunt and cry fest had tuckered me out. The lights went out, and after I heard my brothers changing into sleepwear, I felt someone crawl into the bed next to me. Rolling over, I noticed it was Sam. He looked down at me and pulled me into his side, my head pressing against his chest. "Good night, Lexi," he murmured softly.

"Night, Sammy," I replied, shutting my eyes and allowing sleep to take me.

xxx

I was running, and there was a gun in my hand. Vaguely, I could remember that we were hunting something. For some reason, I couldn't recall what. Dean and Sam were waiting for me way down the road, and I could see them looking at me in fear. Looking behind myself, I couldn't see anything chasing me, but for some reason my legs worked harder, pushing me to run faster. The blood pounded in my ears, deafening as I got closer to my siblings.

Dean and Sam started to back away slowly. "Wait guys!" I called out, stopping a few feet away from them. My hands holding the gun moved up on their own accord, pointing the deadly weapon at Dean. I tried to release my hold on the gun, but I couldn't get my hands to let it go.

"Lexi? What's wrong with you?" Dean said, hands going up as he eyeballed the gun in my hand. Sam's hands raised to in the universal sign of surrender. My finger moved to the trigger, against my will. My hands shook with the effort I was putting in to try and put the gun down.

"I can't stop," I groaned out, biting my lip so hard it bled. The pinching feeling sharpened my awareness. I could not get my hand off of that gun. "Dean! Sammy! RUN!"

I screamed when the gun in my hand went off, immediately followed by another round. I watched in agony as my brothers collapsed, blood pooling from the gunshot wounds in their chests. "NO!" I screamed. "DEAN! SAM!"

"LEXI! WAKE UP!" A loud voice rang through my ears, snapping me to attention as my eyes flew open. Something was pinning my hands down against my sides, and I instantly panicked, tugging fiercely against the hold. A soothing voice met my ears. "Lexi. Shh... honey, it's just me. You need to relax ok."

Sam. The voice belonged to Sam. Relaxing, I felt his hands let go of my wrists, and my tear streaked face turned up to look at him. "Sammy?" I croaked, tears pouring anew down my cheeks.

"Oh honey," he said softly, pulling me into his arms and tucking me into his chest. His hand came around to hold the back of my head, gently pressing my face into the crook of his neck. Sobs wracked my body at the terrible nightmare. "It was just a dream."

I felt another set of hands rubbing my back and smoothing down my hair. "Dean?" I looked up, spotting him smiling sadly down at me from his place sitting on the bed. Moving my upper body, I reached up and wrapped my arms around his neck, breathing in the calming smell of leather. His arms came up to hold me close to him, as he planted a kiss on my forehead.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked me quietly when my sobs stopped. Sam was rubbing my back soothingly, and my heart rate was almost back to normal. I shook my head in response as I slowly released him.

"Well, let's hit the road then," Sam said. It was still very early in the morning, but I was grateful for the suggestion. I didn't want to go back to sleep right now.

We quickly packed up our stuff into the Impala, and hit the road while it was still dark.

xxx

Later on that day, the boys were discussing the case. "Alright, so, the names Dad gave us, they're all couples?" Sam asked.

"Three different couples. All went missing," Dean replied.

"And they're all from different towns? Different states?"

"That's right," he explained. "You got Washington, New York, Colorado. Each couple took a road trip cross-country. None of them arrived at their destination, and none of them were ever heard from again."

"Well, it's a big country, Dean. They could've disappeared anywhere," Sam sighed.

"Yeah, could've. But each one's route took 'em to the same part of Indiana. Always on the second week of April. One year after another after another." I was listening from the back seat quietly, watching them go back and forth.

"This is the second week of April."

"Yep."

"So, Dad is sending us to Indiana to go hunting for something before another couple vanishes?" I noticed a slight angry tone in Sam's words, and I wanted to bash my head into the window when I realized another fight was coming.

"Yahtzee. Can you imagine putting together a pattern like this? All the different obits Dad had to go through? The man's a master," Dean gushed. Sam looked annoyed and pulled the car over to the side of the road and shut it off. "What are you doing?"

"We're not going to Indiana."

"We're not?" Dean looked confused, but his jaw ticked. He was also getting mad.

"No. We're going to California. Dad called from a payphone. Sacramento area code."

"Sam," Dean warned.

"Dean, if this demon killed Mom and Jess, and Dad's closing in, we've gotta be there. We've gotta help."

"Dad doesn't want our help."

"Guys, please don't fight," I pleaded. Neither one looked at me.

"I don't care," Sam snapped.

"He's given us an order," Dean's tone was firm.

"I don't care. We don't always have to do what he says," Sam responded just as firm.

"Sam, Dad is asking us to work jobs, to save lives, it's important."

"Alright, I understand, believe me, I understand. But I'm talking one week here, man, to get answers. To get revenge."

"Alright, look, I know how you feel," Dean said softer, trying to calm the situation.

"Do you?" Sam snapped aggressively. I jumped at his tone, and Dean looked shocked. "How old were you when Mom died? Four? Jess died six months ago. How the hell would you know how I feel?"

My stomach was churning as they argued back and forth. I felt tense and coiled up, knowing that there was nothing I could do to quell this argument. I wrapped my arms around my knees, wishing for them to just move on from their squabbles.

"Dad said it wasn't safe. For any of us. I mean, he obviously knows something that we don't, so if he says to stay away, we stay away."

"I don't understand the blind faith you have in the man. I mean, it's like you don't even question him."

"Yeah, it's called being a good son!" Dean exclaimed. That did it. Sam got out of the car, slamming the door behind him as he grabbed his bag from the trunk. Dean scrambled out, stomping up to Sam. Slowly, I crawled out too, gut sinking. "You're a selfish bastard, you know that? You just do whatever you want. Don't care what anybody thinks."

"That's what you really think?" Sam challenged.

"Yes, it is."

"Well, then this selfish bastard is going to California," Sam said as he put on his backpack and started to walk away.

"Sammy, no!" I shouted, stepping forward, but Dean's hand clamped down on my shoulder firmly, holding me in place.

"Come on, you're not serious," Dean called out.

"I am serious."

"It's still the middle of the night! Hey, I'm taking off, I will leave your ass, you hear me?"

Sam stopped and turned around. "That's what I want you to do." The brothers stared at each other tensely.

"Goodbye, Sam." Dean shut the trunk and moved to get back into the car.

"No! This is stupid, Sammy please don't go!" I broke away from Dean's hold and launched at Sam, wrapping my skinny arms around his waist. "Please stay."

Sam's hand came to rest on the top of my head. "Go with Dean, Lexi," he said quietly. I looked up and could see the guilt in his eyes. "I'll come back in a little while. I just gotta try to find dad first."

He pulled my arms from around his waist and walked off. I just stood there, unmoving until he disappeared from view.

"Come on, sweetheart," Dean said gently, coming to guide me into the Impala. "We need to get moving."

Silently, I got in the car, and stared out the window as we drove away, an awful feeling settling over me.

xxx

We pulled up out from of Scotty's cafe in Indiana. There was an old man sitting in a chair on the porch. Walking up to him, Dean gestured to the sign. "Let me guess. Scotty."

The man looked at the sign and that back at them. "Yep."

"Hi, my name's John Bonham and this is Maggie," Dean said.

"Isn't that the drummer for Led Zeppelin?" Scotty quirked a brow.

Dean looked taken aback. "Wow. Good. Classic rock fan."

The man smirked. "What can I do for you, John?" Dean passed him two papers from his pocket; the missing person flyers for Holly and Vince Parker.

"I was wondering if, uh, you'd seen these people by chance." Scotty looked at the flyers.

"Nope. Who are they?"

"Friends of ours. They went missing about a year ago. They passed through somewhere around here and I've already asked around Scottsburg and Salem-"

Scotty interrupted. "Sorry," he said, passing the flyers back to Dean. "We don't get many strangers around here."

Dean nodded. "Scotty, you've got a smile that lights up a room, anybody ever tell you that?" At Scott's strange look, Dean chuckled. "Never mind. See you around."

Well that was a weird comment. Turning, we walked back to the Impala.

Our next stop was the Jorgeson General Store in Burkitsville. Dean was speaking to a man and a woman named Harley and Stacy. "You sure they didn't stop for gas or something?" Harley had taken the flyers and shown them to Stacy, who shook her head.

"Nope, don't remember 'em. You said they were friends of yours?"

"That's right," Dean nodded as another girl, Emily, came down the stairs carrying boxes.

"Did the guy have a tattoo?" she asked.

"Yes, he did."

Emily turned to Stacy and Harley. "You remember? They were just married."

A look of recognition crossed Harley's face. "You're right. They did stop for gas. Weren't here more than ten minutes."

"You remember anything else?" Dean asked.

"I told 'em how to get back to the Interstate. They left town," Harley replied.

"Could you point us in that same direction?"

"Sure."

We ended up following Harley's directions, and were driving past an orchard when something started beeping next to me in the back seat. "What the hell?" Dean asked, as I rooted through a bag and found the EMF meter beeping frantically.

Pulling over, Dean and I got out of the Impala. "Seems like a good place to start," he commented. I nodded in agreement as we went walking through the orchard.

"Look," I pointed at a scarecrow on a cross. We walked over to it and looked up at it.

"Dude, you're fugly," Dean said, nose cringing at the scarecrow. It looked like a corpse, with real skin.

"What's that on its hand?" I asked. Dean grabbed a ladder from a nearby tree and climbed to the top so that he was eye level with the scarecrow. Moving aside its clothing, he exposed a tattoo, identical to the tattoo Vince had. He pulled out Vince's flyer and compared the designs. "Nice tat."

"That's one creepy scarecrow," I shivered, as we walked back towards the Impala. "It looked like real skin." Dean nodded in agreement as they got back into the Impala and headed back towards town.

We went back to the gas station, where we spotted Emily standing by the gas pumps. Dean got out and walked up to her, me trailing behind. "You're back," she said, looking surprised.

"Never left."

"Still looking for your friends?"

Dean nodded. "You mind fillin' her up there?" He asked, indicating to the Impala. She grabbed a pump and started to fill the tank. "So, you grew up here?"

"I came here when I was thirteen. I lost my parents. Car accident. My aunt and uncle took me in."

"They're nice people."

"Everybody's nice here," she said, though I thought that sounded kind of strange.

"So, what, it's the, uh, perfect little town?" Dean inquired.

"Well, you know, it's the boonies. But I love it. I mean, the towns around us, people are losing their homes, their farms. But here, it's almost like we're blessed." That sounded really weird, but Dean just nodded.

"Hey, you been out to the orchard? You seen that scarecrow?"

"Yeah, it creeps me out." Me too. Dean laughed.

"Whose is it?" I asked.

Emily looked down at me. "I don't know. It's just always been there."

Dean nodded towards a red van parked by the garage. "That you aunt and uncle's?"

"Customer," she replied. "Had some car troubles."

"It's not a couple, is it? A guy and a girl?" Emily nodded.

"Mmhmm." Dean looked concerned, flashing me a quick look. I knew what he was thinking. Those might be the next victims.

xxx

We walked into Scotty's cafe, where Dean waved to the man. "Oh, hey Scotty. Can I get a coffee, black? Oh, and two slices of that pie, too, while you're at it." Dean and I sat at a table next to a young couple. "How ya doing? Just passing through?"

The couple smiled at them. "Road trip."

"Hm. Yeah, us too," Dean said. Scotty walked over to refill their cider.

"I'm sure these people want to eat in peace," the man said.

"Just a little friendly conversation." As Scotty walked away, Dean called out. "Oh, and that coffee, too, man. Thanks."

The man looked agitated, but Dean kept talking to the couple. "So, what brings you to town?"

"We just stopped for gas. And, uh, the guy at the gas station saved our lives."

"Is that right?" Dean murmured.

"Yeah, one of our brake lines was leaking. We had no idea. He was fixing it for us."

Dean looked concerned. "Nice people."

"Yeah."

"So, how long till you're up and runnin'?" Dean asked.

"Sundown." I cringed at the guy's answer. They were definitely the next intended victims.

"Really," Dean appeared to think about it for a minute. "To fix a brake line? I mean, you know, I know a thing or two about cars. I could probably have you up and running in about an hour. I wouldn't charge you anything."

The girl spoke up. "You know, thanks a lot, but I think we'd rather have a mechanic do it."

"Sure, I know," he paused. "You know, it's just that these roads. They're not real safe at night." The couple exchanged a look and I knew Dean was starting to agitate them.

"I'm sorry?" the girl asked.

"What he means," I spoke up, "is that there a lot of deer in the area at night. They cause a lot of accidents."

"Thanks kid, but we're just trying to eat okay?"

Before Dean could say anything, the cafe door jingled and a sheriff walked in. "Thanks for coming, Sheriff," Scotty said. He whispered something in the sheriff's ear, and they both turned to look at us, and we looked away swiftly.

"I'd like a word, please," he said, not leaving any room for negotiation.

"Come on," Dean sighed. "I'm having a bad day already."

"You know what would make it worse?" Dean nodded slowly.

We ended up getting escorted out of town by the Sheriff, but as soon as the Sheriff turned around to drive back to Burkitsville, we pulled over to wait until nightfall.

Come close to midnight, we headed into the orchard. We could hear some panicked voices up ahead, and we ran forwards. Coming into a clearing was the couple, and Dean intercepted them. "Get back to your car," he ordered. Looking behind them, we could see the scarecrow moving towards them, and panic started to set in. "Go! Go!"

The couple ran off, as Dean and I cocked our guns and shot at the scarecrow. He stumbled, but kept walking. Turning, we ran after the couple, back towards the vehicles. As we reached the vehicles, Dean turned around with the gun ready, but the scarecrow was gone. "What the hell was that," asked the guy, panting.

"Don't ask," Dean replied.

xxx

Dean ended up calling Sam, and he put him on speaker phone. "The scarecrow climbed off its cross?" Sam exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm tellin' ya. Burkitsville, Indiana. Fun Town," Dean replied sarcastically.

"It didn't kill the couple, did it?" he asked

"No, we can't cope without you, you know." I rolled my eyes, and I could almost picture Sam rolling his.

"So, something must be animating it. A spirit."

"No, it's more than a spirit. It's a god. A Pagan god, anyway."

"What makes you say that?" Sam questioned. Pagan gods were few and far between. You didn't come across them very often.

"The annual cycle of its killings? And the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman. Like some kind of fertility right. And you should see the locals. The way they treated this couple. Fattening them up like a Christmas turkey."

"The last mean. Given to sacrificial victims," Sam mused.

"Yeah, I'm thinking a ritual sacrifice to appease some Pagan god," Dean explained.

"So, a god possesses the scarecrow..."

"And the scarecrow takes its sacrifices," Dean finished. "And for another year, the crops won't wilt, and disease won't spread."

"Do you know which got you're dealing with?"

"No, not yet."

"Well, you figure out what it is, you can figure out a way to kill it." As I listed to Sammy speak, I couldn't help but miss him. It hadn't been long, but it was long enough that she missed him. She'd only just gotten to meet her brothers. She didn't want to part from either of them for a long time.

"I know. I'm actually on my way to a local community college. I've got an appointment with a professor. You know, since I don't have my trusty sidekick geek boy to do all the research." Both Sam and I laughed.

"You know, if you're hinting you need my help, just ask."

"I'm not hinting anything. Actually, uh... I want you to know... I mean, don't think..." Dean was trying his best, and I felt bad for him. He had such a hard time talking about his feelings.

"Yeah, I'm sorry, too," Sam said, understanding what Dean was trying to say.

"Sam. You were right. You gotta do your own thing. You gotta live your own life," Dean said. I was shocked. That was so not what I was expecting.

"Are you serious?" Sam sounded just as surprised.

"You've always known what you want. And you go after it. You stand up to Dad. And you always have. Hell, I wish I - anyway... I admire that about you. I'm proud of you, Sammy." I almost teared up. It was pretty touching to see Dean admitting stuff like that.

"I don't even know what to say," Sam replied after a moment.

"Say you'll take care of yourself," Dean sounded sad.

"I will."

"Call me when you find Dad."

"Okay. Bye, Dean. Bye Lexi."

"Goodbye Sam," I replied before Dean hung up the phone.

xxx

At the Community College, Dean was inside talking to the college professor while I stayed in the Impala. My mind kept wandering to Sam and Dad. I missed them both so much, and I couldn't help but worry about them. I know Sam was a big boy and could take care of himself, but I was concerned about him being on his own. Then there was Dad, who could never think clearly because of Mary's death, and was rash in a lot of his hunting decisions.

Without backup, both were vulnerable to attacks. Dean was also vulnerable. I wasn't much for backup, and I couldn't really help in a fight. I was too new to the actual hunting. I knew all about the creatures, but actually fighting them off was another thing. I had yet to get past the initial fear of seeing these monsters. Mom would be so disappointed in my lack of courage, but it wasn't something I could fix overnight. Only experience was going to help my bravery.

I just hoped that if Sam did find Dad, that Dad didn't get too mad at him. Dad could be scary when mad, and he surely was not going to be happy that Sam left Dean and her in order to find him. There would be no one to get between them and soothe their arguments. Hopefully they managed to keep things peaceful between themselves. Though that was unlikely.

A part of me still missed my mom. There was a weird sense of relief at not having to live with her coarseness, but she was all I knew. She had been all I had. For all her flaws, there was still the part of her that I knew loved me. That genuinely cared. She wanted me to be an exceptional hunter, and she had spent the last several years of her life trying to ensure I met those exceptions.

Glancing up, I saw the town's Sheriff coming out of the college, lugging an unconscious Dean with another man. "NO!" I exclaimed, watching as they threw my brother into the back of the cruiser. Climbing frantically in the front seats, I grabbed the Impala keys that Dean had left me in case I needed to crack a window. Hoping he wouldn't kill me later for this, I turned on the Impala and followed after the cruiser as it drove away.

I had learned to drive with my mom, only a few times and in an old beater of a car. Still, I had enough knowledge to follow the police cruiser. I had a hunch they were heading to the orchard, so I hung back a little ways as not to look suspicious. Though Dean's car stuck out like a sore thumb, so it was going to stand out anyways.

I pulled over at the orchard after the cruiser had disappeared somewhere else. Locking the doors, I sat watching. All I had to do now was wait.

While I was waiting for the cruiser to pop back up with my brother, who they were surely going to offer up to the scarecrow, I grabbed my belt and loaded up my guns, real bullets and salt. Putting it around my waist, I watched out of the window as the sun began to set.

It was an hour before midnight when they arrived with Dean and the Emily girl from earlier. I watched them taking them to the orchard, and I could see the panic on Dean's face from the distance. He was really worried about that scarecrow. Sam wasn't here to get him out of this jam. It was up to me.

Once they were gone into the orchard, I grabbed my gun out of its holster, and headed after them silently. I tried not to think about the scarecrow that was going to come to life to kill people shortly. As I approached the tree where Emily and Dean were tied, I could hear them talking. "You don't have a plan, do you?" Emily asked, panic obvious in her tone.

"I'm workin' on it," Dean said back, just as freaked. "Can you see?"

"What?" Emily asked.

"Is he moving yet?" I approached them quickly, not wanting to imagine the scarecrow stepping off its cross.

"Dean!" I called out softly. He instantly looked up, searching the trees for me.

"Lexi!" Dean exclaimed. "Oh, baby girl I'm so happy to see you."

As I moved towards him, Dean's face turned scared. "Behind you!" he exclaimed.

Turning around, I raised my gun expecting the scarecrow, but deflated when I saw it was Sam. "Sammy?!" I squealed, lunging at him to engulf him in a hug.

"Hi there, honey," he hugged me back quickly, before we moved to untie Dean and Emily.

"Oh! I take everything back I said. How'd you get here?"

"I, uh- I stole a car," Sam said sheepishly.

"Haha! That's my boy!" Dean chuckled. "And keep an eye on that scarecrow. He could come alive any minute."

"What scarecrow?" Sam asked. Dean stood up and I turned to see that the scarecrow's post was empty. I turned back to my brothers, instantly terrified. Reaching forward, I grabbed Sam's hand, as we began to run back towards the road, Emily keeping pace.

"Alright, now, this sacred tree you're talking about -" Sam started.

"It's the source of its power," Dean interrupted.

"So, let's find it and burn it."

"Nah, in the morning. Let's just shag ass before Leather Face catches up." We reached a clearing, and froze when we saw the elders and a few other townspeople. "This way!" Dean shouted as we turned around, halting in our tracks when we saw that we were blocked in all directions.

"Dean, Sammy," I murmured. Sam reached down and held me against his side, while Dean planted himself in front of us.

"Please. Let us go," Emily begged.

"It'll be over quickly, I promise," Harley said, as if that was a comforting fact.

"Please," Emily whimpered. I whimpered too, causing Sam to clutch me tighter.

"Emily, you have to let him take you. You have to-," his words were cut off when a sickle shot through his stomach. Emily, Stacy, and I let out a scream in shock. Stacy was grabbed by the scarecrow as well, and we could only watch as Emily's aunt and uncle were dragged away by the thing. The rest of the townspeople took off in fright.

"Come on, let's go," Dean said. Sam scooped me up this time, holding me close to his chest as if he could hide me from everything evil in the world. We made it back to the road, and Dean blanched when he saw the Impala. "How did my car get here?"

I looked up at him. "Sorry, I had to get to you," I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly as Sam set me down on my feet. "Are you mad?"

Dean looked at me seriously for a second before cracking a smile. "I'm impressed," he finally said as he opened the door and got in. Smiling, I got into the backseat while Sam got in on the passenger side. Emily followed in after me and we headed back into town to wait until morning.

xxx

Come morning, we all went to the Orchard and walked to the sacred tree. The tree was marked with the tattoo design, obviously pointing it out as the sacred tree. Sam poured gasoline on it, while Dean picked up a branch and set it on fire with the lighter.

"Let me," Emily said, taking the branch from Dean.

"You know, the whole town's gonna die," he said.

"Good." She threw the branch onto the tree, and we watched as it burst into flames.

xxx

Later that day, after Emily had taken a bus to Boston, we were sitting in the Impala. "Think she's gonna be alright?" Sam asked.

"I hope so," Dean murmured.

"And the rest of the townspeople, they'll just get away with it?"

"Well, what'll happen to the town will have to be punishment enough," Dean sighed. "So, can I drop you off somewhere?" My heart sunk. Sam was going to leave again.

"No, I think you're stuck with me," Sam smirked. I smiled, my excitement building.

"Really?" I squealed. He looked back at me and nodded.

"What made you change your mind?" Dean asked.

"I didn't," he answered. "I still wanna find dad. And you're still a pain in the ass. But, Jess and Mom- they're both gone. Dad is God knows where. You, me, and Lexi. We're all that's left. So, if we're gonna see this through, we're gonna do it together."

"Hold me, Sam. That was beautiful," Dean said, putting his hand on Sam's shoulder, who swatted it away. We all laughed.

"You should be kissing my ass, you were dead meat, dude," Sam chuckled.

"Hey!" I snapped indignantly. "I would have gotten him out of there!"

"Ah, yes you would have sweetheart," Dean agreed, while Sam shot me a grin. "I had a plan though, I'd have gotten out."

"Liar," I scoffed, earning a chuckle from Sam, and an eye roll from Dean.


	7. Faith

Chapter 6: Faith

Sam and Dean were out on a hunt at an abandoned old house. It was late in the night, and they had decided I would be better off staying behind. I had pleaded with them to let me come along, but they assured me it would be an easy kill and I would just be bored. Eventually relenting, I stayed in the motel, but sleep couldn't come to me.

Even though I was wearing a pair of cozy pajamas, and I was tucked into a really comfortable bed, my mind kept wandering to my brothers. I didn't like being left behind, left to worry about their safety and unable to help them if they needed it. I wasn't even sure where they were, so if something went wrong, I would have no way of knowing how to get to them.

As much as I tried, my mind kept worrying until the sun rose. Then the worrying got worse. They had told me they would be back before sunrise. Something had happened. Throwing off the blankets, I changed into a pair of jeans and my pink hoodie. Quickly putting my hair into a ponytail, I was about to reach for my emergency cell phone to call them, when the door opened.

Turning, with a large smile, it fell quickly when I saw Sam's face. He looked shattered, and I knew immediately something happened. Frozen where I stood, I looked at him with wide eyes. "Where's Dean?" I asked, scared to know the answer.

Sam looked at me, and I could see tears shining his eyes. "Come on, let's get in the car and I'll explain on the way."

I followed him swiftly to the Impala, immensely worried as we drove away from the motel and further into town. "Dean got electrocuted," Sam finally said after a long moment.

I jolted. "Is he... Is he going to be alright?" I asked, tears starting to pool.

Sam's grip on the wheel was so tight, his knuckles were turning white. His frame was shaking from emotion. "The electrocution caused a heart attack. They've given him a couple weeks to a month to live."

My insides turned to ice as my head slowly moved back to lean against the headrest. The initial shock was overwhelming, and it was becoming hard to breathe. Dean was going to die. My older brother was going to die. The words kept going around and around in my head, but they didn't make sense. How was this possible? Dean couldn't die. Tears slowly crept down my cheeks, but I didn't move to wipe them away. I was frozen in place.

Sam turned to look over at me, and I vaguely felt him reach over to hold my hand, but I was almost disembodied. My mind had retreated, trying to comprehend what was happening.

In a few minutes, we pulled up at the Hospital, and Sam guided me inside and through the halls to where Dean's room was. As we walked inside, I halted in my tracks. Big, strong, Dean, the one who held the family together, looked like death.

He was paler than the hospital sheets, almost a grey color, and dark purple circles under his eyes stood out in contrast. His cheeks were gaunt and his eyes sunken. I choked down a sob at the look of him. It was a miracle he'd even survived the heart attack. He had a television remote in his hand, and he was flipping through channels in boredom.

"Have you ever actually watched daytime TV? It's terrible," Dean even sounded frail. His voice weak and feeble. It made my stomach clench in uneasiness. I just got my brothers, I wasn't ready to lose one of them so soon. I wanted to go to him, but he hadn't even looked at me. I was worried if I touched him that he might disappear.

Sam shook his head and sighed. "I talked to your doctor," he said quietly.

"That fabric softener teddy bear," Dean scoffed. "Oh, I'm gonna hunt that little bitch down."

"Dean." Sam's tone was firm. Dean looked up and sighed. He flipped off the television.

"Yeah," Dean sounded resigned. "All right, well, looks like you're gonna leave town without me."

"What are you talking about? I'm not gonna leave you here," Sam said. Of course, we weren't going to leave. He was dying. Obviously, we couldn't go anywhere. I didn't understand why Dean was talking like we were just going to leave him here.

"Hey," Dean sounded serious. "You better take care of that car. Or, I swear, I'll haunt your ass."

"I don't think that's funny," Sam said. I felt tears prickling my eyes. Dean had accepted the fact that he was going to die. He wasn't even going to try and find a way to survive.

"Oh, come on, it's a little funny."

"Look, Sammy, what can I say, man, it's a dangerous gig. I drew the short straw. That's it, end of story."

"Don't talk like that, alright? We still have options."

"What options? Yeah, burial or cremation. And I know it's not easy. But I'm gonna die. And you can't stop it." That was the final straw. A sob escaped my clenched lips, and I turned tail and ran down the hall, not stopping when I heard Sam calling my name.

I bolted into the stairwell, and went back down a few flights before my knees gave out near the first floor. Loud sobs wracked my body as I pressed my face into my palms. Dean was going to die. The words were so foreign, but they kept repeating in my mind. He didn't care. In fact, there almost looked to be a part of him that was relieved. My stomach felt queasy, and I vaguely wondered if I was going to puke.

How could he give up so quickly? His life was full of purpose. He saved so many people, and there were so many more he could help. There was so much left for him to do. I don't understand why he had to die. There had to be a way to help him.

I could hear the sound of a door opening a few flights up. "Lexi?" Sam's voice rang through the stairwell, bouncing off the walls. The soft sound of my crying alerted him of my presence, and I could hear him quickly descending the stairs. "Oh, Lexi," Sam murmured softly, as he sat down next to me. His arms came to wrap around me, and he pulled me into his lap.

I pressed my cheek into his flannel shirt and sobbed. "He can't die, Sammy," I cried. "It's not fair."

"We'll find a way to save him," I could hear Sam holding back the tears through his voice. Was that possible? Could they save their brother?

xxx

We were back at the hotel room, and Sam was trying to get in contact with Dad. After the phone had cut to voicemail, Sam spoke. "Hey, Dad. It's Sam. Uh... you probably won't even get this, but, uh... it's Dean. He's sick, and uh... the doctors say there's nothing they can do. Um... but, uh, they don't know the things we know, right? So, don't worry, cause Lexi and I are gunna do whatever it takes to get him better. Alright... just wanted you to know." I could hear that Sam was trying to hold back his tears.

Sam hung up the phone and tossed it on the bed. There was a sudden knock on the door, and I looked up at Sam as he stood quickly and opened the door. My jaw dropped when I saw Dean leaning against the door jam, looking terrible.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Sam demanded. I flew to my feet and walked over beside Sam. Dean winked at me.

"I checked myself out," he stated simply.

"What, are you crazy?"

Dean entered the room, and I didn't fail to notice that he had to lean on everything to make his way through small room. "Well, I'm not gonna die in a hospital where the nurses aren't even hot."

I glared at him and sat down. If he was going to act stupid, then he was going to be getting the silent treatment from me. I would not humor his reckless actions. Sam shut the door and moved to hover by Dean.

"You know, this whole 'I-laugh-in-the-face-of-death' thing? It's crap. I can see right through it," he chastised.

"Yeah, whatever, dude. Have you even slept? You look worse than me." Sam helped Dean across to sit in a chair.

"I've been scouring the internet, calling every contact in Dad's journal," Sam explained.

"For what?" Was Dean really that naive? Did he think that we weren't going to do everything in our power to keep him breathing? Or did he just really not care that he was going to die in less than a month? My mind was filled with questions.

"For a way to help you. One of Dad's friends, Joshua, he called me back. Told me about a guy in Nebraska. A specialist," Sam explained. So far, that specialist was our only hope.

"You're not gonna let me die in peace, are you?"

"I'm not gonna let you die, period. We're going," Sam said with a tone of finality. I silently agreed with him.

xxx

We were driving down a long, bumpy gravel road towards a large circus tent. Dean was in a pissy mood, after he realized that I was not speaking to him, and that he was in fact, not seeing a doctor, but a faith healer.

People were making their way towards the tent through the muddy ground, a lot of them elderly with walking frames, or being helped along by someone else. Sam got out of the Impala first, and went around to help Dean. With a grimace, Dean started to pull himself out of the car and Sam reached down to help. "I got ya," he said.

Dean snapped at him and pushed him away. "I got it. Man, you are a lying bastard. Thought you said we were going to see a doctor."

"I believe I said a specialist. Look, Dean, this guy's supposed to be the real deal."

"I can't believe you brought me here to see some guy who heals people out of a tent," Dean snapped. I had to agree. It looked really fake.

An elderly woman carrying an umbrella walked past us. "Revered LeGrange is a great man," she said.

"Yeah, that's nice," Dean muttered sarcastically. We walked forward and passed a very angry man remonstrating with a cop.

"I have a right to protest. This man is a fraud. And he's milking all these people out of their hard-earned money," the guy sounded furious.

"Sir, this is a place of worship," the officer said sternly. "Let's go. Move it." He led the angry guy away.

"I take it he's not part of the flock," Dean commented. I followed behind closely, watching as everyone went into the tent. So many people, all desperate to be healed.

"But when people see something they can't explain, there's controversy." This felt like something we should be hunting, I couldn't help thinking. Some man, claiming he could perform miracles? But if he somehow managed to save Dean, then I wouldn't question it.

"I mean, come on, Sam, a faith healer?" There was so much skepticism in his voice.

"Maybe it's time to have a little faith, Dean."

"You know what I've got faith in? Reality. Knowing what's really going on."

"How can you be a skeptic? With the things, we see every day?"

"Exactly. We see them, we know they're real."

"But if you know evil's out there, how can you not believe good's out there, too?"

"Because I've seen what evil does to good people." I've never felt more pity for Dean than in that moment. He'd truly seen so much evil and corruption in the world, that he had no faith that there was anything good out there. It wasn't that he was a pessimist, he just simply had never been given any reason to believe there was good in the world.

A young blonde woman had overheard us, and she walked up. "Maybe God works in mysterious ways."

Dean checked her out, smiling. "Maybe he does. I think you just turned me around on the subject."

"Yeah, I'm sure," she smirked.

Dean held out his hand. "I'm Dean, this is Sam and Lexi."

The young woman took his hand and shook it. "Layla. So, if you're not a believer, then why are you here?"

"Well, apparently my siblings here believe enough for me too."

An older woman came and put her arm around Layla. "Come on, Layla. It's about to start." She smiled at us before moving inside the tent.

"Well, I bet you she works in some mysterious ways," Dean commented. Sam rolled his eyes, and I couldn't help but think: 'I don't wanna know.' We moved to enter the tent, and my eyes roamed the interior. Rows of chairs filled with people, and a small stage at the front with candles.

Dean looked around and tilted his head to the corner. "Yeah, peace, love, and trust all over."

Sam followed his gaze, and I looked up to see a security camera. Dean moved to sit in the very back row, but Sam grabbed his arm. "Come on," he said.

"Don't! What are you doing? Let's sit here," Dean snapped.

"We're sitting up front." I couldn't help but cheer for Sam. He rarely used that stern tone, and I could see it working on Dean.

"What? Why?"

Sam never answered, and pulled him up towards the front. I followed behind them slowly.

"Oh, come on, Sam," Dean grumbled.

"You alright?"

"This is ridiculous," he slapped Sam's hands away. "I'm good, dude, get off me."

Sam let go and pointed to two empty seats behind Layla and her mother. Dean sat down, and looked to me with a grin. "Come here, sweetheart, you sit with me." Ignoring him, maintaining the silent treatment, I plopped down on Sam's knee.

I felt Sam shrug, and he pulled me back so we were more comfortable. Looking up at the stage, there was a blind man wearing dark round sunglasses. He must have been Roy LeGrange. Next to him, was a woman, dressed in tailored clothes, and her hair pulled back into a bun.

"Each morning, my wife, Sue Ann, reads me the news. Never seems good, does it?" the reverend spoke. The crowd murmured in agreement. "Seems like there's always someone committing some immoral, unspeakable act."

I looked around the stage, and noticed a table filled with religious items. There was an old wooden cross, topped with a smaller cross within a circle. The symbol was familiar to me, but I can't remember where I had seen it before.

"But, I say to you, God is watching."

"Yes, he is," the crowd chimed in.

"God rewards the good, and He punishes the corrupt." The crowd nodded and cheered. This place kind of had a similar feeling to what a cult would. Though I guess religion is kind of a cult in its own way. "It is the Lord who does the healing here friends. The Lord who guides me in choosing who to heal by helping me see into people's hearts."

"Yeah, and into their wallets," Dean muttered quietly. Sam elbowed him.

"You think so, young man?" The crowd fell silent, and Dean muttered an apology. "No, no. Don't be. Just watch what you say around a blind man, we've got real sharp ears. What's your name son?"

Dean cleared his throat and hesitated. "Dean."

"Dean. I want - I want you to come up here with me." My heart leapt. Could Dean really be saved? Would they actually be that lucky?

The crowd started clapping. I noticed Layla's mother stiffening in her seat. Sue Ann on the stage moved up towards the center and smiled at Dean.

"No, it's ok," Dean shook his head. Stubborn brother! I wanted to shove him up there and plead the reverend to save him, but I kept my mouth shut. Sam could handle this.

"What are you doing?!" Sam whispered harshly.

"You've come here to be healed, haven't you?" the Reverend spoke.

Dean hesitated. "Well, yeah, but ahh... maybe you should just pick someone else." Sam and I turned to look at Dean in shock. Was he that eager to die? There was a chance of survival in front of him, and he was turning it down!

"Oh, no. I didn't pick you. Dean, the Lord did."

The crowd started cheering excitedly, telling Dean to go on stage. "Get up there!" Sam encouraged. Dean looked at him for a moment, and then looked at my wide eyes staring up at him. Sighing, he reluctantly rose and moved towards the stage. Sue Ann guided him to stand next to Roy.

I could see Dean exchanging some words with the Reverend quietly, but I couldn't make them out. Roy then turned to the crowd. "Pray with me, friends." The crowd lifted their hands into the air, joining hands with one another. Roy lifted his hands to the air, then laces one on Dean's shoulder, before sliding it up to the side of his head. "Alright now. Alright now."

I sent out a silent plea to whatever God there was to save my brother, and I watched in fear as Dean's eyes glazed over. He sank to his knees, Roy's hands still on his head. "Alright, now." Dean wobbled, then his eyes rolled back into his head and collapsed.

"Dean!" Sam and I yelled, lunging to our feet and running up to him on the stage. The crowd was clapping behind us. I crouched next to Dean, while Sam grabbed the front of his hoodie. Suddenly, Dean's eyes flew open and he gasped. Dean blinked groggily and looked up. I noticed him looking shocked at something over the Reverend's shoulder, but when I turned my gaze, I saw nothing. That was odd.

xxx

We headed straight to the hospital after we left the faith healer's tent. "Are you really feeling ok?" I asked Dean quietly as he sat on a hospital bed.

Dean turned to look at me and smirked. "Finally talking to me again, sweetheart? he chuckled. At my look, he nodded. "I feel fine. Healthy as a horse. Now come here."

Stepping forward, he picked me up from under my arms and sat me down on his lap, wrapping me in a fierce hug. I could feel a slight tremble in his frame as his chin came to rest on the crown of my head. It hit me then. He had been terrified at the idea of dying. He didn't want to get his hopes up that there might be a way to save him. He'd wanted to be strong for us. Reaching up, I hugged him tightly, a few tears sneaking out.

A doctor entered, smiling at Dean and I. Sam stood next to us, looking at the woman eager for the results. "Well, according to all your tests, there's nothing wrong with your heart. No sign there ever was. Not that a man your age should be having a heart trouble, but, still it's strange it does happen."

Dean placed me back down on the ground. "What do you mean, strange?" he asked.

"Well, just yesterday, a young guy like you, twenty-seven, athletic. Out of nowhere, heart attack."

A funny look crossed Dean's face. "Thanks, Doc."

"No problem," the doctor said, before she turned and left the room.

"That's odd," Dean commented. I had to agree. For a young guy to have a heart attack... it's almost unheard of.

"Maybe it's a coincidence. People's hearts give out all the time, man," Sam said, ever the optimist.

"No, they don't."

"Look, Dean, do we really have to look this one in the mouth? Why can't we just be thankful that the guy saved your life and move on?"

"Because I can't shake this feeling, that's why."

"What feeling?" I asked curiously.

"When I was healed, I just... I felt wrong. I felt cold. And for a second... I saw someone. This, uh, this old man. And I'm telling you, Sam, it was a spirit." My eyes widened. That must have been what he was looking at over the Reverend's shoulder.

"But if there was something there, Dean, I think I would've seen it, too. I mean, I've been seeing an awful lot of things lately," Sam replied.

"Not necessarily," I commented. "I thought I felt a presence there. Something hiding behind the Reverend." My brothers turned to me, both giving me worried looks.

"Alright," Sam sighed, turning to Dean. "What do you wanna do?"

"I want you to go check out the heart attack guy. Lexi and I are gonna visit the reverend."

xxx

Dean and I were sitting on a couch across from Roy LeGrange. We had headed over a while ago, hoping to get some sort of hint as to how the Reverend performed those miracle healings. Sue Anne was filling a glass off to the side. She really weirded me out, though I couldn't pinpoint why.

"I feel great," Dean stated. "Just trying to, you know, make sense of what happened."

"A miracle is what happened," Sue Ann responded, taking a seat next to Roy. "Well, miracles come so often around Roy."

"When did they start? The miracles." Dean spoke to Roy, not paying much attention to the woman.

"Woke up one morning, stone blind," he replied. "Doctors figured out I had cancer. Told me I had maybe a month. So, uh, we prayed for a miracle. I was weak, but I told Sue Ann, 'you just keep right on praying.' I went into a coma. Doctors said I wouldn't wake up, but I did. And the cancer was gone." To punctuate his point, Roy took off his dark sunglasses, revealing his pure white eyes. I shuddered at the appearance.

"If it wasn't for these eyes, no one would believe I'd ever had it."

"And suddenly you could heal people," Dean mused. He was skeptical on the idea, and I had to admit that I was too. There was something extremely fishy about it all.

"I discovered it afterward, yes. God's blessed me in many ways."

"And his flock just swelled overnight. And this is just the beginning," Sue Ann added. Dean still ignored her.

"Can I ask you one last question?" he asked.

"Of course, you can."

"Why? Why me? Out of all the sick people, why save me?" I knew there was a part of Dean that didn't believe he deserved to be saved. There was a part of him that felt he deserved to die. I wanted to reach out and touch his hand, but I knew the contact would be unwelcome.

"Well, like I said before, the Lord guides me. I looked into your heart, and you just stood out from all the rest." I smiled softly at that. Dean had a good heart, there was no question about it.

"What did you see in my heart?"

"A young man with an important purpose. A job to do. And it isn't finished." Dean looked slightly surprised, and I sat back taller. What the Reverend said was true. Dean had an important job, and the world still needed him out there fighting.

xxx

As we were leaving the Reverend's house, we ran into Layla and her mother waiting to go inside. "Dean, Lexi, hey," Layla greeted kindly.

"Hey," Dean answered.

"How you feeling?" she asked.

"I feel good. Cured, I guess. What are you doing here?"

"You know, my mom, she wanted to talk to the Reverend," she explained. The girl was really pretty; I was surprised Dean wasn't trying to hit on her. Though she was probably sick too.

Sue Ann came on the porch. "Layla?"

"Yes, I'm here again," Layla said softly.

"Well, I'm sorry, but Roy is resting. He won't be seeing anyone else right now."

"Sue Ann, please. This is our sixth time, he's got to see us," Layla's mother pleaded.

"Roy is well aware of Layla's situation. And he very much wants to help just as soon as the Lord allows. Have faith, Mrs. Rourke." Sue Anne turned and walked back inside. Layla's mother turned with a cold look pointed at Dean.

"Why are you still even here? You got what you wanted," she sounded frustrated. Though, I didn't blame her. The woman's daughter was dying. Most parents would do anything for their kids...

"Mom, stop," Layla stated quietly.

"No, Layla, this is too much. We've been to every single service. If Roy would stop choosing these strangers over you. Strangers who don't even believe. I just can't pray any harder."

"Layla, what's wrong?"

Layla hesitated. "I have this thing..."

"It's a brain tumor," her mother interjected. I really didn't like the woman. "It's inoperable. In six months, the doctors say..." Layla put her hand on her mother's shoulder, stopping her from speaking further. I felt really bad for the young woman. She didn't deserve for her life to end so soon.

"I'm sorry," Dean said. And he truly looked sorry. I realized he was probably feeling guilty, from having been saved and then Layla having to wait.

"It's okay," Layla said gently.

"No, it isn't," Mrs. Rourke said to her daughter. She turned to Dean. "Why do you deserve to live more than my daughter?"

Mrs. Rourke walked away, Layla following behind. We watched them leave, and I reached up to hold Dean's hand. He gripped it tightly, and I was glad that I could do something for him, even if it was something as small as a bit of wordless support.

xxx

We headed back to the hotel, and when we walked inside, Dean threw his keys on the bed and began to take off his jacket. Sam was reading something on the laptop. "What'd you find out?" Dean asked.

"I'm sorry," Sam murmured quietly. My stomach dropped. There had been something wrong with the faith healer's "miracles" after all.

Dean tossed his jacket on the bed and stepped closer to Sam. "Sorry about what?"

"Marshall Hall died at 4:17," Sam answered softly.

Dean looked stunned. "The exact time I was healed."

"Yeah. So, I put together a list of everyone Roy's healed, six people over the past year, and I cross-checked them with the local obits. Every time someone was healed, someone else died. And each time, the victim died of the same symptom LeGrange was healing at the time." All the pieces were slowly starting to click into place.

"Someone's healed of cancer, someone else dies of cancer?" Dean asked.

"A life for a life," I murmured.

Sam nodded in agreement at my comment. "Somehow, LeGrange... he's trading a life for another."

"Wait, wait, wait. So, Marshall Hall died to save me?" Dean looked angry. I didn't know how I felt about this. It was terrible someone else had to die, but was I wrong to still feel relief that my brother wasn't going to die?

Sam looked upset at Dean's rhetorical question. "Dean, the guy probably would've died anyway. And someone else would've been healed."

"You never should've brought me here," Dean snapped.

"Dean, I was just trying to save your life," Sam sounded desperate, like he was trying to get Dean to understand his perspective.

"But, Sam, some guy is dead now because of me."

"I didn't know."

"How is he doing it?" I asked, hoping to change the subject. "How does he trade one life for another?"

"Oh, he's not doing it," Dean commented. I looked up at him, quirking a brow. "Someone else is doing it for him."

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, confused.

"The old man you saw on stage," I realized, looking up wide eyed at Dean.

"I didn't wanna believe it, but deep down I knew," Dean looked exhausted as the realization struck him. I knew too, and I immediately felt guilty that I had helped Sam organize this.

"You knew what? What are you talking about?" Sam looked so lost. It would've been funny in any other situation.

"There's only one thing that can give and take life like that."

"A reaper," I whispered. Dean nodded, and Sam's face turned to one of resignation.

We immediately began piling together our knowledge of reapers. "You think it's 'The Grim Reaper?' Like, angel of death, collect your soul, the whole deal?" Sam asked.

"There's more than one reaper out there Sam," I answered. It was almost kind of cute that he thought there was only one reaper in the world.

At Sam's confused look, Dean took over the explanation for me. "There's reaper law in pretty much every culture on earth, it goes by 100 different names, and it's likely that there's more than one of them."

"But you said you saw a dude in a suit."

"What, you think he should been working the whole black robe thing?" Dean sounded flabbergasted, and I couldn't help but snicker. "You said it yourself that the clock stopped, right? Reapers stop time. And you can only see 'em when they're coming at you, which is why I could see it and you guys couldn't."

"Maybe."

"There's nothing else it could be, Sam. The question is, how is Roy controlling the damn thing?"

"The cross!" I exclaimed, standing up.

"What?" Dean asked, turning to look down at me in confusion. I rolled my eyes when Sam too, looked at me surprised. Did they really not notice any of their surroundings?

"The cross at the church," I explained. "I noticed it on the stage and I knew I had seen it before." I pulled the laptop towards myself and quickly entered in my search. I pulled up a picture of tarot cards, and showed the one with the cross to my brothers.

"A tarot?" Dean's voice filled with skepticism. Tarot was really pushing it.

"Tarot dates back to the early Christian era right, when some priests were using magic," Sam realized. I nodded at him eagerly.

"A few of them turned dark. Necromancy and how to push death away, how to cause it," I added.

"So, Roy's using black magic to bind the reaper?" Dean asked.

"If he is, he is taking a big risk," I murmured. "It's dangerous business dealing with reapers."

"Ok, then we stop Roy."

"How?" Sam asked.

"You know how."

"What, what the hell are you talking about Dean, we can't kill Roy," Sam snapped. I nodded. He was human after all.

"Sam, the guys playing God, he's deciding who lives and who dies. That's a monster in my book." I understood where Dean was coming from, what Roy was doing was wrong, but he was still human.

"No. We're not going to kill a human being, Dean. We do that, we're no better than he is."

"Ok, we can't kill Roy, we can't kill death. Any bright ideas college boy?"

"You knuckleheads," I snapped, standing up swiftly. They turned to look at me in shock. "It's a spell binding the reaper. We figure out how to break it, and then problem solved." Of course, it sounded easier than it was actually going to be, and we all knew that. Still, it was the best idea we had.

xxx

We drove back to Roy's tent, and pulled over in an empty parking spot. "If Roy's using a spell, there might be a spell book," Sam mused.

"See if you can find it," Dean said, looking at his watch. "Hurry up too, the service starts in fifteen minutes. We'll try to stall Roy."

A man held out a sheet of paper to Dean as we walked past. "Roy LeGrange is a fraud. He's no healer," the man preached.

"Amen brother," Dean agreed, taking the paper.

"You keep up the good work," Sam smiled at the guy before we kept moving.

xxx

As Dean and I were walking up the aisle of the tent, Dean's cell rang. "What have you got?" he asked, the phone held against his ear.

I could hear the quiet tone of Sam's voice coming through the line, but I couldn't make out the words. Dean's face turned confused. "What, the guy in the parking lot?" Dean suddenly nodded and hung up the phone. "Come on, Lexi. We gotta stop this service."

We moved further towards the front of the tent, just as Roy called Layla to the front of the room. I felt a little guilty. This girl had been waiting patiently, hopeful that she would one day be saved. Now that she had her chance, we were going to take it away from her. I shivered. It still kind of felt like we were valuing a life over another, but it wasn't our job to decide who gets to live or not.

Layla hugged her mother, and Dean sighed. "Oh, man." As Layla moved to walk past him, he grabbed her arm. "Layla, listen to me. You can't go up there."

"Why not? We've waited for months!" she exclaimed, looking angry at the insinuation that she didn't deserve to be saved.

"You can't let Roy heal you," Dean sounded desperate, and I felt bad that we couldn't explain why.

"I don't understand. Roy healed you, didn't he? Why can't you let him try?" Guilt gnawed at my insides.

"Cause if you do, something bad is going to happen. I can't explain. I just need you to believe me," Dean said.

"It's not worth the price," I said carefully, and she turned to look at me. I tried to convey my sympathy and desperation through eye contact, but Sue Ann interrupted, holding out her hand.

"Layla," Sue Ann said.

"Please," Dean murmured.

Layla turned to stare at the hand that Sue Ann was offering, then turned back to stare at her mother. She looked back at us and shook her hand. "Layla. Layla!" Dean called, as she walked up to the stage.

Sue Ann put her arm around Layla and guided her to the stage. "Dear child!" she said. The crowd continued to clap happily. "You deserve this."

Roy took Layla's hand. "I knew the Lord was planning. I knew it was just a matter of time," the Reverend said. Dean moved back towards the stand near Layla's mother, who was crying and covering her face with her hands. "Pray with me friends."

Roy was about to lay his hands on Layla when Dean shouted. "FIRE! Hurry, tent's on fire!" Everyone stood up and began to evacuate, while Layla's mom began to plead for the Reverend to continue. We could only watch helplessly, feeling incredibly guilty.

"Friends, if you'd all just leave the tent in an orderly fashion... and we'll, uh, and we'll figure out what's going on out there and we'll come back," Roy said.

Dean pulled out his phone and held it to his ear. After a moment, he spoke. "I did it, I stopped Roy." I saw Dean's brows furrow. "What do you mean it didn't work? Then who the hell is?"

I looked around with Dean, and our eyes locked on the same person at the same time. It was Sue Ann, standing beside the stage, facing into the corner and reciting something. "Sue Ann," Dean murmured. I ran towards her, Dean following behind me. Latching onto her arm, I yanked her around. She instantly stopped reciting and reached down to hold onto a cross on a chain. The same cross I had seen earlier.

Sue Ann tucked the cross into her blouse and began to scream. "Help! Help me!" she hollered.

Dean pulled me back instantly, but two cops came and grabbed him roughly pulling him away from me. "Dean!" I called, shocked when another one grabbed my arm and hauled me behind.

As soon as the cops manhandled him through the entry, he shook them off, Sue Ann close behind. Reaching over, Dean pulled me against his side and out of the cops' hands, glaring at the cop coldly. "I just don't understand. After everything we've done for you. After Roy healed you. I'm just very disappointed Dean."

Dean said nothing, just staring at her. Sue Ann turned to the cops. "You can let them go. I'm not gonna press charges. The Lord will deal with them as he sees fit." She turned on her heel and left.

The cop turned to us. "We catch you round here again, we'll put the fear of God in you, understand?"

"Yes sir, fear of God. Got it." Dean turned and froze. Looking around him, I spotted Layla waiting to talk to him.

"Why would you do that Dean? And it could have been my only chance," she exclaimed, tears shining her eyes.

"He's not a healer," Dean said apologetically.

"He healed you."

"I know it doesn't seem fair, and I wish I could explain. But Roy is not the answer, I'm sorry."

Layla shook her head in response, murmuring a good-bye before she walked away. She suddenly turned to look at him. "I wish you luck. I really do."

"Same to you," Dean's voice cracked, and I reached up to hold his hand again. I felt really bad for the girl, but there was nothing we could do. We couldn't let another person die in her place, even though we had unconsciously done the same for Dean. Under his breath, I heard Dean mumble: "You deserve it a lot more than me."

That hit home, and my heart clenched. He truly believed he didn't deserve to be saved. I squeezed his hand before we noticed Roy and Sue Ann speaking to Layla and her mother. "Private session tonight, no interruptions. I give you my word, I'll heal your daughter," Roy said, and I felt Dean stiffen beside me. This was far from over.

xxx

Later on, we were sitting in the hotel room, having just finished telling Sam about what happened. "So, Roy really believes," he stated.

"I don't think he has any idea what his wife's doing," Dean said.

"Well, I found this," Sam handed a small book to Dean. "Hidden in their library. It's ancient. Written by a priest who went dark side. There's a binding spell in here for trapping a reaper."

"Must be a hell of a spell," Dean replied, flipping through the book.

"Yeah. You gotta build a black altar with seriously dark stuff. Bones, human blood. To cross a line like that, a preacher's wife. Black magic. Murder. Evil." I shivered as Sam spoke.

"Desperate. Her husband was dying, she didn't have anything to save him. She was using the binding spell to keep the reaper away from Roy," Dean ran hand through his hair.

"Cheating death, literally."

"If Roy's alive, why would she still use the spell?" I asked, looking up at them.

"To force the reaper to kill people she thinks are immoral," Sam explained, reaching over to pull me into his lap. I leaned my head against him, wondering how someone could take human lives so easily.

"May God save us from half the people who think they're doing God's work," Dean muttered, and I could only agree.

"We have to break that spell," I said softly.

Dean looked down at the book, specifically a page that showed the cross. "You know Sue Ann had a coptic cross like this. When she dropped it, the reaper backed off."

"So, you think we gotta find the cross or destroy the alter?" Sam asked.

"Maybe both. Whatever we do we better do it soon, or he's healing Layla tonight."

xxx

That night, we pulled up out front of Roy's house. "That's Layla's car. She's already here," Sam said, indicating to the parked car out front.

Dean nodded, looking grim. "Yeah."

"Dean..."

"You know if Roy woulda picked Layla instead of me, she'd be here right now. And if she's not healed tonight, she's gonna die in a couple of months."

"What's happening to her is horrible. But what are you gonna do? Let somebody else die to save her? You said it yourself Dean, you can't play God."

Dean never answered. He got out of the car, Sam and I following. We approached the tent and took a peek inside. Roy was speaking to a small group of the faithful, including Layla and her mother.

"Gather round, please everyone, gather round. Come in closer, come on up," Roy said.

"Where's Sue Ann?" Dean noticed she was missing.

"House," Sam replied. They moved towards the house, but Dean stopped.

"Go find Sue Ann, we'll catch up."

"What are you gonna...?"

Dean spotted the two cops from earlier coming down the stairs. "Hey!" he hollered, and the cops looked over. "You gonna put that fear of God in me?" They began to move swiftly towards us, so Dean and I took off, leaving Sam to go check the house.

Dean and I hid behind a camper van, while the cops were shining their flashlights all over. "You see him?" One cop asked.

"Nah," the other answered. We slowly rose next to the passenger window, looking behind us. A large dog jumped at the window barking wildly. Hearts in our throat, we leapt back and it took everything I had not to shriek. On the other side of the van, the cops shone their lights underneath, then in at the dog who was still barking.

"Psycho mutt," one of them said, before they moved on. We sighed in relief when they walked away.

As we moved back towards the tent, I noticed a very old, funny looking man walking towards us. He was wearing a black suit, and as he got closer I screamed. Instantly, Dean grabbed me, looking down. "What's wrong, Lexi?" I pointed at the reaper, and Dean looked but couldn't see anything. He cussed and picked me up. "We gotta get you outta here sweetheart. That damn woman!"

Why would she send the reaper after me? I hadn't done anything immoral. I could see it walking after us, as Dean swiftly moved away. We got to the Impala, and I realized Dean was planning to drive as fast as he could to get me out of here, but as soon as he opened the door and placed me on my feet, I shrieked when the reaper appeared, placing his hand on the side of my head.

I instantly felt cold, my whole body stiffening up. As if he was a mile away instead of right beside me, I could hear the faint voice of Dean calling me. My eyes rolled back, and my body convulsed. It was like I could feel the life draining from my very soul. It made me feel weak and tired, and I was helpless to do anything to stop it.

And then suddenly, the hand was gone. I hit the ground, gasping for air. "LEXI!" Dean shouted, from where he was crouching next to me. The reaper was looking up, confused by something. He vanished.

I felt myself being pulled up against Dean's chest, and he hugged me so tight, I had a fear he might crush me. "You're ok, you're alright," Dean kept repeating, as he stood up, keeping me pressed tight against his chest. "Is he gone?"

Through the tears that slowly slipped down my cheeks, I nodded. The reaper was gone. I shivered, tucking my hands against my chest, a chill having set over my bones.

As Dean went to place me in the Impala, Sam approached. "Dean! Is she ok?" he asked, stopping next to us.

"That was way too close," Dean answered, sounding breathless. I felt Sam gently take me from Dean's arms, and I pressed in close to my other brother, pressing my face against his neck as he hugged me fiercely.

"Yeah... Alright, come on. We should get going."

We piled into the Impala, myself squished between my brothers in the front seat. As soon as we drove away, my eyes slipped shut and sleep took me.


	8. Route 666

Chapter 7: Route 666

At a gas station, in the middle of nowhere, Dean was speaking on the phone while Sam was looking at a map he had laid out on top of the Impala. I was sitting on the hood next to him, swinging my feet back and forth slowly, while munching contentedly on a sandwich that Dean had bought me.

"Ok, I think I found a way we can bypass that construction just east of here," Sam said, pointing at a route on the map. "We might even make Pennsylvania faster than we thought."

Dean lowered his phone, and looking like he was thinking intensely about something. "Yeah. Problem is, we're not going to Pennsylvania."

"We're not?" I asked, looking up at him. I halted my feet from swinging back and forth, tilting my head slightly to the side.

"I just got a call from an, uh- old friend. Her father was killed last night, think it might be our kind of thing," he said slowly.

"What?" Sam looked confused, his brows furrowed.

"Yeah. Believe me, she never woulda called, never, if she didn't need us." Dean climbed into the Impala, looking at the two of us impatiently. "Come on, are you coming or not?" Moving into action, Sam and I clambered into the car, silence ringing in the air as we drove away.

After several hours of weak conversation, Sam spoke up. "By 'old friend' you mean...?" he trailed off, and I thought it sounded like he was hinting at something.

"A friend that's not new," Dean offered. I rolled my eyes. What a ridiculous answer.

"Oh yeah, thanks. So, her name's Cassie huh? You never mentioned her," Sam replied.

"Didn't I?" Dean kept his eyes on the road, deliberately not making eye contact with the smirking Sam, who sat waiting for Dean to elaborate. A long, exaggerated sigh came out of the elder brother. "Yeah, we went out."

"You mean you dated somebody? For more than one night." Sam sounded disbelieving and I giggled quietly. Dean shot me a look through the rearview mirror, and I reached up to hide my grin.

"Am I speaking a language you're not getting here," Dean snapped. "Dad and I were working a job in Ohio, she was finishing up college. We went out for a coupla weeks."

"And...?" Sam pushed. I thought Sam was pushing a little too hard. If he wasn't careful, he'd make their brother angry. Dean shrugged in response, and I knew I was right. He was never really the sharing and caring kinda guy. "Look, it's terrible about her dad, but it kinda sounds like a standard car accident. I'm not seeing how it fits with what we do. Which, by the way, how does she know what we do?"

Dean shifted uncomfortably, and Sam's jaw dropped. Even I was surprised. "You told her. You told her the secret! Our big family rule number one. We do what we do and we shut up about it. For a year and a half, I do nothing but lie to Jessica, and you go out with this chick in Ohio a coupla times and you tell her everything?" When Dean never answered, Sam snapped again. "Dean!"

"Yeah. Looks like," was all Dean said. I shook my head, leaning my head back against the seat.

xxx

We entered a newspaper office, where the Mayor was talking to a man. "Jimmy, you're too close to this. Those guys were friends of yours. Again, Cassie, I'm very sorry for your loss." Cassie was a very pretty girl, with tight coiled dark brown hair that fell just past her shoulders, and beautiful brown skin. I felt a bit of envy at her appearance.

The Mayor left as we entered the office, and Jimmy walked away. Cassie sighed, turning around. She locked eyes on Dean and stared. Dean nodded at her and grinned. "Dean," she said, staring.

"Hey, Cassie," he offered weakly. I rolled my eyes. Dean was all talk. I saw Sam smiling to himself, and I had to stifle a laugh.

"This is my brother, Sam," Dean said, indicating to their giant of a brother. Before he could point to me, I stepped forward and held my hand out.

"I'm Lexi, their sister," I smiled widely. She smiled back, and shook my hand gently.

"Sorry 'bout your dad," Dean said.

"Yeah, me too," she said, a tone of sadness in her voice. They kept staring at each other, and I shook my head at the two of them.

xxx

We went to Cassie's house, where she brought a tray of tea and cups into the living room, where we sat on a couch. I was squished between my brothers, trying to not feel awkward as I sat there silently. "My mothers in pretty bad shape. I've been staying with her. I wish she wouldn't go off by herself. She's been so nervous and frightened. She was worried about dad."

"Why?" Dean asked.

As Cassie poured the tea, she looked up at him. "He was scared. He was seeing things."

"Like what?"

"He swore he saw an awful-looking black truck following him."

"A truck," Sam stated, looking at Cassie. "Who was the driver?"

Cassie handed them each a cup of tea, and passed me a glass of orange juice, which I accepted gratefully. "He didn't talk about a driver. Just the truck. He said it would appear and disappear. And, in the accident, Dad's car was dented, like it had been slammed into by something big."

Sam accepted the cup of tea. "Thanks. Now you're sure this dent wasn't there before?" Dean on the other hand was looking at the cup of tea like it was an alien, and quickly placed it on the side table.

"He sold cars," she explained. "Always drove a new one. There wasn't a scratch on that thing. It had rained hard that night. There was mud everywhere. There was a distinct set of muddy tracks leading from dad's car... leading right to the edge, where he went over." Cassie bowed her head, trying to get her emotions back under control. I felt really bad for her. I don't know how I'd cope if I lost my dad. "One set of tracks. His."

"And the first person killed was a friend of your fathers?" Dean asked, leaning forward.

"Best friend. Clayton Soames. They owned the car dealership together. Sam thing. Dent. No tracks. And the cops said exactly what they said about dad. He 'lost control of his car.'"

"Can you think of any reason why your father and his partner might be targets?" Dean inquired.

"No."

"And you think this vanishing truck ran them off the road?" Sam asked. It did sound farfetched.

"When you say it aloud like that... listen, I'm a little skeptical about this... ghost stuff... or whatever it is you guys are into," she said.

"Skeptical," Dean mused. "If I remember, I think you said I was nuts."

"That was then," she defended herself. They went back to staring at each other and I rolled my eyes. Sam nudged me gently, and I smirked at him. "I just know that I can't explain what happened up there. So, I called you."

The sound of the door opening caused us all to turn. A middle-aged woman entered, and we all stood. Cassie went over to take her mother's arm. "Mom. Where have you been, I was so..."

"I had no idea you'd invited friends over," her mother said, looking at them. Her mother looked slightly out of breath.

"Mom, this is Dean, a... friend of mine from... college. And his brother Sam, and sister Lexi."

"Well, I won't interrupt you."

"Mrs. Robinson. We're sorry for your loss. We'd like to talk to you for a minute, if you don't mind?" Dean asked.

The woman looked affronted. "I'm really not up for that right now." She left the room swiftly, and I glanced up at my brothers, who gave each other a look.

We headed to get a motel room after we left Cassie's place. Dean was dreadfully quiet, lost in thought about his old fling. The motel was quaint, but clean. The floors were carpeted, and there were to queen sized beds, each with a dark burgundy comforter and white sheets. I placed my bags on the bed closest to the wall, and grabbed my pajamas from inside. Darting into the bathroom, I shut the door behind me.

I could hear my brothers talking in hushed voices, but I ignored them and got into the shower, turning on the hot water. As the tension left from my shoulders, I tossed my head back to let the water splash over my face. This hunting job was tough. I wasn't used to the constant traveling, the lack of sleep, and the emotional turmoil of watching my brothers being in danger constantly and being frightened of spirits. It was wearing on me a bit, but I couldn't say anything to my brothers. I didn't want to slow them down; give them something to worry about.

The motel shampoo smelt of lavender, and it was a painful reminder of my mother, who loved anything that smelled of the flower. In all the chaos of moving, finding my brothers, and hunting, I haven't had the time to come to terms with the fact that she was really gone. Our relationship had been poor at best, but that was one less person who I could say cared about me. The number was tragically small. I missed her advice. Although, if she could see me now, overwhelmed by the demands of hunting, she'd be incredibly ashamed.

I shut the water off, and wrapped myself in a white fluffy towel, before using another to wrap my hair. Walking up to the mirror, I wiped the condensation from the steam off of the mirror and looked at my reflection. I may only be eight years old, nine in a few days, but I didn't look it. My face was that of a child, still round with youth, but my eyes belonged to someone much older; the eyes of someone who had seen things no kid should ever see.

Over the last month, I had lost a bit of weight. My diet wasn't great while traveling, and meals were scattered all over the place. Sam and Dean tried their best to keep me eating regularly, but there was only so much they could do. When we were on a hunt, I was usually too stressed to eat anything anyways, so that contributed to the weight loss.

Shaking my head, I quickly brushed my teeth and changed into my pajamas. I towel dried my hair, and opened the bathroom door to pad quietly into the room. Sam was lying on the bed I had picked, reading Dad's journal, while Dean was sitting on the couch drinking a beer and flipping through the motel channels.

Sam looked up at me and smiled, and I returned one weakly. Instantly, he picked up on my lowered mood and he opened his mouth. I shook my head at him, and crawled under the covers next to him, facing the wall. I felt his hand smooth my wet hair down gently, and I appreciated the gesture as I closed my eyes. Sleep came quickly, but it was filled with dreams of my mother, monsters, and fear.

xxx

The next day, Dean woke us up saying that Cassie had called again. Jimmy had just died in a car accident. Getting dressed, I quickly braided my hair, and followed the boys out to the Impala, where we headed to a field lined with emergency vehicles.

We spotted Cassie and walked up to stand behind her. "Did the cops check for additional denting on Jimmy's car, see if it was pushed?" Dean asked.

"Who's this?" the mayor asked.

"Dean, Sam, and Lexi Winchester. Family friends. This is Mayor Harold Todd," Cassie said.

"There's one set of tire tracks. One... doesn't point to foul play," he replied.

"Mayor, the police and town officials take their cues from you. If you're indifferent about..." she trailed off.

"Indifferent!" the Mayor exclaimed.

"Would you close the road if the victims were white?" she asked. I quirked a brow at the Mayor. Was he really that low?

"You suggesting I'm racist Cassie? I'm the last person you should talk to like that."

"And why is that?" she asked steadily, challenge in her eyes.

"Why don't you ask your mother." He turned around and walked away, leaving us where we stood.

xxx

After heading back to the motel room, the boys were changing into suits, and Dean was fixing his tie in the mirror. "I'll say this for her, she's fearless," Sam said.

"Mm-hmm," Dean agreed, tightening his tie. They were going undercover again, so I was going to have to sit this part out again. It would look weird for two professionals to be going around with a kid.

"Bet she kicked your ass a coupla times," Sam snickered. Dean shot him a look. "What's interesting is you guys never really look at each other at the same time. You look at her when she's not looking, she checks you out when you look away. It's just a... just an interesting observation in a... you know... observationally interesting way."

"You think we might have more pressing issues here?" Dean said.

"Hey, if I'm hitting a nerve," Sam smirked.

"Let's go," Dean said, turning to look at me. "You stay here. Call us if you need anything, sweetheart."

I nodded, and watched as they left the room.

xxx

After an hour of sitting around, watching the crappy television channels, my cell phone rang. Instantly, I flicked it open, not even looking at the caller ID and held it up to my ear. "Hello?" I asked, wondering which brother it was.

The voice that answered was the last one I expected to hear. "Alexandra," my dad's voice came through the line. "Hi, baby girl."

Tears pricked my eyes. "Daddy?" I murmured. It had been so long since I'd gotten to talk to him.

"Yeah. How are you doing, kiddo? Are the boys being nice?" he asked, his voice bringing me back to the happy times when he would show up at mom's house and stay for a few weeks.

A sad smile lifted the corners of my lips. "I'm good, daddy. I love being with Sam and Dean. They're so awesome!"

A hearty chuckle met my ears, and I grinned. "I'm glad to hear that they're living up to your expectations. Are they with you right now?"

"No," I replied. "They're undercover right now getting some information on a case, and I stayed behind." He grunted in response. I could tell that meant he wasn't happy, so I continued. "But don't worry, they won't be gone long, and I can take care of myself."

"Yes, you'll be nine in a couple of days, won't you? My baby girl is growing up." I giggled. "I just called to check in on you. I've got to go now, but you tell the boys that I'm alright."

"Ok, love you," I replied softly, disappointed at the incredibly short phone call.

"Love you too," he said back. "Stay safe."

The line went dead, and I shut the phone as I flopped back on the couch.

xxx

Sam came back a little later without Dean, and filled me in on everything they had found out. "So where is Dean now?" I asked, after he finished explaining everything.

"He's over with Cassie," he said, a suggestive tone in his voice and I wrinkled my nose. Gross. "Come on, let's go down to restaurant and grab some supper."

Nodding, I let Sammy grab my hand as we went down to the restaurant and picked a table near the window. A blonde waitress came to take our order. "Hi there, what can I get you guys to drink?" she asked, her eyes roaming over my brother. I rolled my eyes at her. Every female seemed to flirt with my brothers, and it was kind of annoying.

"I'll have just a water," Sam answered, ignoring the look he was getting. "Lexi?'

"I'll have an orange juice please," I said. The lady looked down at me.

"I'll be back in a minute," she winked at Sam, and left to go get their drinks.

We flipped through the menus, and ordered our food after she brought us our drinks. Sam ordered a spinach salad, while I ordered a grilled cheese with a salad. I wanted fries, but Sam says I need to eat healthier if I want to be a good hunter, and I can't argue with that logic.

"Dad called me while you guys were done," I said, taking a drink.

Sam looked at me in shock. "What? What did he say?"

"Not much," I replied. Picking up my sandwich and taking a bite. "He was just making sure that everything was alright."

Sam quirked a brow as he looked pensive for a moment. "And is everything alright?" he asked slowly.

I smiled up at him, flashing him a set of dimples. "Yeah, everything is good," I answered. It wasn't a complete lie. I was happier here with my brothers than I'd ever been. "Just adjusting to always being on the move. It's still new to me."  
A pitying look crossed Sam's face. "You know honey, if you ever need a break or anything, we've got a place to stay with Bobby. Dean and I won't mind taking a few weeks off if you would ever like. And we're always here to talk if you need to."

I looked down at my plate, blushing a bit. "Thanks," I mumbled. Silence followed as we ate the rest of our food. It wasn't until I swallowed the last bit of my salad that I spoke again. "I just haven't had the time to really think about my mom. Our relationship wasn't good, but she was still someone I saw every day; one of the only people I know that actually cared about me. It's just a lonely feeling, knowing that she's gone."

Sam looked at me, a very serious expression on his face. "You know Dean and I care about you, don't you?" I nodded at him, not in earnest, and fingered the straw in my empty glass. "Lexi, I know we haven't known you long, but you are our sister and we do care for you. You are not along, and never will be."

A man suddenly came running in, talking to one of the staff in a rush. Sam and I turned to listen. "The Mayor has been found dead, hit by a vehicle!" the frantic man said, arms waiving all about. Sam instantly picked up his phone and called Dean.

xxx

The next morning, I was waiting in the Impala while my brothers were talking to an officer. When they finished, they exchanged a few words. As they sat inside, I poked my head into the front seat between them. "So, what happened?" I asked curiously.

"Every bone crushed. Internal organs turned to pudding. The cops are all stumped, it's like something ran him over."

"Like a truck?" I shuddered.

"Yep," Dean said. "No tracks."

"Why was he out here anyways?" I asked. This wasn't exactly a place to be hanging out.

"He owned the property," Sam replied. "Bought it a few weeks ago."

"But he's white, he doesn't fit the pattern," Dean murmured.

"Killings didn't happen up on the road. That doesn't fit either."

xxx

Sam and I went to the courthouse, while Dean left to go to the newspaper office. After we sifted through, Sam phoned Dean to share their findings. "Ok, the courthouse records show that Mr. and Mrs. Mayor bought an abandoned property. The previous owner was the Dorian family for, like, 50 years. Yeah."

He was silent for a long moment, before his face looked curious. "What?" He put Dean on speaker so I could hear what he was about to say.

"This Cyrus Dorian. He vanished in April of '63. The case was investigated, but never solved. It was right around the time the string of murders was going on back then," Dean said.

"Well, I pulled a bunch of papers up on the Dorian place, it musta been in bad shape when the Mayor bought," Sam replied.

"Why's that?"

"The first thing he did was bulldoze the place."

Dean spoke to Cassie. "Mayor Todd knocked down the Dorian place?" Cassie's reply was muffled and they couldn't make out what she had said. "You got a date?" he asked Sam.

"The 3rd of last month," I chimed in, looking down at the articles documented. I could hear Dean typing away on a keyboard for a moment.

"Mayor Todd bulldozed the Dorian family home on the 3rd. The first killing was the very next day."

xxx

As we sat in the motel that night, Dean's phone went off. Looking up, I watched his face turn to panic as he held it up to his ear. "Stay where you are," he said firmly, a stone hard look in his eyes. Sam looked up at Dean, catching that something was wrong. "We'll be there in a few minutes."

Hanging up the phone, he turned to us. "Grab what you need. Cassie saw the truck outside her house," he said. My stomach knotted as I put my belt on and followed after my brothers to the Impala.

Dean drove way over the speed limit, and we made it to Cassie's house in record time. He flung the door open and ran up the steps to the house. She opened it, and I felt pity for the girl as Sam and I approached. She looked pale.

Dean guided her inside to the couch, while Sam got her a cup of tea. I sat down across from her, while Dean sat next to her protectively. They were kind of a cute couple, but I felt a twinge of jealousy at my brother being so open with another person. I forced that feeling down immediately, knowing that it was ridiculous. Dean had known her for a long time.

When Sam handed her the cup of tea, her hands shook as she took it from him, she looked up. "Maybe you could throw a couple of shots in that."

"You didn't see who was driving the truck?" Sam asked.

"It seemed to be no one," she murmured, voice trembling. "Everything was moving so fast. And then it was just gone. Why didn't it kill us?"

"Whoever was controlling the truck wants you afraid first," Dean replied, looking unhappy at his own statement.

"Mrs. Robinson, Cassie said that your husband saw the truck before he died," Sam said to the woman, who was sitting on the single chaise. I almost had forgotten she was there.

The woman was trembling, and didn't answer. "Mom?" Cassie asked.

"Oh," she said. "Martin was under a lot of stress. You can't be sure about what he was seeing."

"Well, after tonight I think we can be reasonable sure he was seeing a truck. What happened tonight, you and Cassie are marked. Ok? Your daughter could die. So, if you know something, now would be a really good time to tell us about it." I thought Dean was being a little harsh, but he was in protective mode over Cassie and nothing would stop him now.

"Dean..." Cassie chastised quietly.

"Yes. Yes, he said he saw a truck," Mrs. Robinson replied.

"Did he know who it belonged to?" Sam asked.

"He thought he did."

"Who was that?" Dean inquired, leaning forward slightly.

Mrs. Robinson looked like she was starting to get upset. "Cyrus. A man named Cyrus."

Dean and Sam shared a look. Dean reached into his bag and showed her the newspaper article about Dorian's death. "Is this Cyrus?" Dean asked.

"Cyrus Dorian died more than 40 years ago," she said.

"How do you know he died, Mrs. Robinson?" Dean asked softly. "The papers said he went missing. How do you know he died?"

"We were all very young," she started. "I dated Cyrus a while, I was also seeing Martin... in secret of course. Inter-racial couples didn't go over too well back then. When I broke it off with Cyrus and when he found out about Martin, I don't know, he... changed. His hatred - his hatred was frightening."

I felt goosebumps raise on my skin. I could see where this story was heading, and it scared me. Sam, who was sitting next to me, ran a comforting hand over my back, obviously catching my increased tension. I noticed Dean glance at me, before he turned to look back at Cassie. I forced the jealousy down into a dark place, hopefully to not be revisited again.

"The murders," Sam mused out loud.

"There were rumors. People of color disappearing into some kind of a truck. Nothin was ever done. Martin and a... Martin and I, we were gunna be, uh, married in that little church near here, but last minute we decided to elope as we didn't want the attention." Cassie's mom was started to sound really upset.

"And Cyrus?" Dean pushed.

She completely broke down. "The day we set for the wedding, was the day someone set fire to the church. There was a children's choir practicing in there. They all died." My gut flipped, and I felt my eyes grow wet. Cursing myself for weakness, I turned my eyes to the ceiling light, trying to keep the tears back. It worked.

"Did the attacks stop after that?" Sam asked softly.

"No!" she sobbed. "There was one more. One night that truck came for Martin. Cyrus beat him something terrible. But Martin, you see, Martin got loose. And he started hitting Cyrus and he just kept hitting him and hitting him."

"Why didn't you call the cops?" Dean asked.

"This was forty years ago. He called on his friends, Clayton Soames and Jimmy Anderson, and they put Cryus' body into the truck and they rolled it into the swamp at the end of this land and all three of them kept that secret all of these years."

"And now all three are gone," Sam said.

"And so is Mayor Todd. Now he said that you of all people would know is not a racist. Why would he say that?" Dean lifted a brow as he spoke.

"He was a good man. He was a young deputy back then investigating Cyrus' disappearance. Once he figured out what Martin and the others had done, he... he did nothing, because he also knew what Cyrus had done."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Cassie asked her mother.

"I thought I was protecting them. And now there's no one left to protect."

"Yes, there is," Dean murmured, looking at Cassie. Mrs. Robinson followed his gaze to her daughter, looking shaken.

xxx

Later that night, Sam and I were leaning against the Impala while Dean paced in front of us. He was worried about Cassie's safety, not that I blamed him. A murderous angry ghost on the loose? Of course, he should be concerned. "Ah, my life was so simple," Sam mused. "Just school, exams, papers on polycentric cultural norms."

"So, I guess I saved you from a boring existence," Dean replied, quirking a brow at Sam. I giggled quietly.

"Yeah, occasionally I miss boring," Sam said. I almost wanted to nod in agreement. Boring meant you were safe, boring meant that you weren't in mortal danger every time you went to a new town.

"So, this killer truck..." Dean drawled, changing the subject.

"I miss conversations that didn't start with 'this killer truck'," Sam complained, throwing his hands up in the air and groaning dramatically.

Dean laughed lightly. "Well, this Cyrus guy. Evil on a level that infected even his truck. When he died, the swamp became his tomb, and his spirit was dormant for 40 years."

"So, what woke it up?" I asked, looking up at Dean.

"The construction on his house. Or the destruction," he answered.

"Right," Sam murmured. "Demolition or remodeling can awaken spirits, make them restless. Like that theater in Illinois, ya know?"

"And the guy that tore down the family homestead, Harold Todd, is the same guy that kept Cyrus' murder quiet and unsolved," Dean added.

"So now his spirit is awakened and out for blood."

"Yeah I guess. Who knows what ghosts are thinking anyway." I had to agree with Dean. Ghost's thoughts were impossible to predict. While there was usually a pattern or something to link everything together, it wasn't always necessary.

"You know we're going to have to dredge that body up from the swamp right," Sam added after a long moment. Dean smiled at him, while my nose wrinkled. Eww... Swamp. "Man."

"You said it," Dean replied.

"Yeah..."

Cassie approached them from the house, and Dean turned to face her. "Hey," he greeted.

"Hey. She's asleep. Now what?" she said.

"Well, you should stay put and look after her... and we'll be back. Don't leave the house."

Cassie smiled and looked up at him. "Don't go getting all authoritative on me. I hate it," she said. Dean cast a glance back at us, and I noticed Sam look down grinning.

"Don't leave the house, please?" I heard him mumble under his breath. I snickered, and he turned and shot me a glance. Then he leaned down and kissed her, and I gagged a little. Sam cleared his throat, and Dean held up a finger to Sam to wait.

"You comin' or what?" Dean asked to us, after he broke the kiss.

xxx

We leant a farm tractor from a family that Cassie knew, and were hooking it up to a truck in the swamp "All right. Let's get her up," Sam said.

Dean was at the wheel of the tractor, and he backed it up, pulling a black truck from the water.

"All right, a little more. Little more. All right, stop!" Sam held up his hand as Dean halted the tractor. I was standing on a dry patch, watching from a distance. Dean turned off the engine and jumped down from the tractor. "Nice."

"Hell yeah!" Dean grinned as he walked over to the Impala, near where I stood.

"Now I know what she sees in you," Sam smirked.

As Dean rummaged among the weapons, he looked up at Sam in surprise. "What?"

"Come on man, you can admit it. You're still in love with her," Sam stated, blunt and to the point. I looked up at him, hoping he wasn't crossing some sort of line.

"Ahh, can we focus please," Dean went back to sifting through the weapons.

"I'm just saying, Dean."

Dean passed Sam something from the trunk. "Hold that."

"All right. What am I getting?"

"Gas. Flashlight..." he trailed off.

"Got it. Got it."

"Okay. Let's get this done." Dean lowered the trunk of the Impala. We all moved towards the door of the truck, glance at each other. Dean opened the door, and I jolted back when a decayed body fell out.

My brothers quickly salted the body and burned it, while I stood watching. After the body was almost all charred away, Sam turned to Dean. "Think that'll do it?"

The sound of an engine revving behind us caught out attention, and we jerked around to see the ghost truck, headlights turning on. "I guess not," Dean replied.

"So, burning the body didn't work?" My voice trembled as I looked up at Dean.

"Sure it did. Now it's really pissed," Dean answered sarcastically.

"But Cyrus' ghost is gone, right Dean?" Sam asked.

Dean started to walk away. "Apparently not the part that's fused with the truck."

"Where are you going?" Sam questioned.

"Goin' for a little ride," he replied.

I felt my body stiffen. Sam looked shocked. "What?!" he exclaimed.

"Gonna lead that thing away. That busted piece of crap, you gotta burn it."

"How the hell am I supposed to burn a truck, Dean?!"

"I don't know. Figure something out." Dean threw a bag at Sam.

As Sam caught the bag, he glared at Dean. "Figure some- something," he stuttered out. I had to agree. How did one burn a truck?

I watched Dean climb into the Impala, and spin off. The ghost truck went roaring after him, while Sam and I hid down until it was gone.

Not long after, while Sam was flipping through Dad's journal and a bunch of papers, Sam's phone rang. "Hey, you gotta give me a minute," he said into the phone. I couldn't make out what Dean said through the line. "Ahh... Let me get back to you." He slammed the cell shut.

Sam dialed another number. "Hey, Cassie?" he said into the phone. "Hey, it's Sam, I need some information and it has to be exactly right."

They spoke quickly, but I was tuned out, worrying about whether Dean could outrun that monster truck or not. The Impala was fast but a ghost vehicle?

"Alright, Dean?" Sam's voice broke through my panic mode. "Where are you?"

He was silent for a moment while Dean answered. "Listen to me, this is important. I have to know exactly where you are." When Dean replied, Sam looked down at a map in his hands. "Ok. Headed East? Ok, ahh, turn right! Up ahead, turn right. You make the turn?"

I could hear Dean yelling, but I couldn't make out the words. "All right, you see a road up ahead? Ok, turn left. You need to go seven tenths of a mile and then stop. Exactly seven tenths."

"You want him to what?!" I exclaimed. Sam ignored my outburst, busy listening to Dean on the line. That had to be suicide!

"Dean, you still there? What's happening?" He was quiet for a moment. "Just what you are doing, bringing it to you."

A long minute passed. I was chewing my nails to the quick, praying to whoever was listening to keep my brother safe. "Dean, you still there? Dean? You're where the church was."

My head tilted at that. What church?

Sam spoke again. "The place Cyrus burned down. Murdered all those kids. Church ground is hallowed ground, whether the church is still there or not. Evil spirits cross over hallowed ground, sometimes they're destroyed, so I figured, maybe, that would get rid of it."

"Maybe!" I shouted, and I imagine Dean was saying the same thing. That was a major risk.

Sam's face suddenly looked sheepish. "Huh. Honestly that thought hadn't occurred to me." My jaw dropped as I stared at him.

xxx

The next morning, after we were all packed up and ready to go, Sam and I were seated in the Impala while Dean was saying goodbye to Cassie. "Do you think he really loves her?" I asked Sam.

He looked back at me through the rearview mirror. "Yeah, but not enough to stay," he replied, and I thought I detected a tone of sadness in his voice. Looking out the window, I saw them kiss one last time before Dean got into the passenger side. We all waved at her before we drove off.

"I like her," Sam said after a while of silence.

"Yeah," Dean murmured.

"You meet someone like her, doesn't it make you wonder if it's worth it? Putting everything else on hold, doing what we do?"

Dean looked at Sam for a moment, before he grabbed his sunglasses and slipped them on with a smile. "Why don't you wake me up when it's my turn to drive?" he said, leaning down in the seat with a sigh. Sam shook his head, and looked back at the straight road ahead of them.


	9. Nightmare

**Author's Note - Sorry guys, really short chapter here. But I sincerely loathed this episode (and the one about the faith healer), so I've kinda skipped through this one, but I've given you a nice chapter ending to tide you over with some action and mystery. *evil laughs. Don't worry, next chapter will be posted within 24 hours.**

Chapter 8: Nightmare

I was sitting awake in one of the motel rooms, in one of the queen-sized beds. Dean was lying next to me, snoring softly with his face mashed into one of the fluffy pillows. I smirked lightly when I saw the little puddle of drool under his chin. The sun was beginning to peak through the curtains, and I no longer felt sleepy. We were still looking for another case to take on, but I appreciated the time to catch up on sleep in the motel.

Sam suddenly jolted awake in the bed next to me, eyes flying open as he sat up straight. I jerked in fright and turned to look at him, his wide eyes looking at Dean and I. "Sammy? Are you ok?" I asked softly.

Sam nodded. "Dean. Dean!" he said. Once Dean began to stir awake, Sam stood up and began to gather all of their things together. Getting to my feet, I stretch once and then began to pile my stuff together, curious as to why we suddenly were on the move.

Dean rubbed his eyes and looked up at Sam in agitation. "What are you doing man, it's early..." he groaned as he raised himself up on his elbows.

"We have to go," Sam stated, as if that explained everything.

Dean looked alert at that. "What's happening?"

"We have to go. Right now." Sam grabbed his bag, and walked out of the room. I looked at Dean, who shrugged and climbed out of the bed to grab his things.

xxx

Once in the Impala and on the road, Sam explained to us that he'd had a nightmare, and he wanted to check it out. Currently, he was on the phone, reading from a Michigan State Police ID. "McReady. Detective McReady. Badge number 158. I've got signal 480 in progress, I need the registered owner of a two-door sedan, Michigan license plate Mary-Frank-six-zero-three-seven. Yeah ok, just hurry."

"Sammy, relax," Dean said. "I'm sure it's just a nightmare."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"I mean. Y'know, a normal, everyday, naked-in-class, nightmare. This license plate, it won't check out. You'll see," Dean sounded like he was trying to convince himself that it was just a regular nightmare. I leaned against the back door of the Impala, my face resting on the cool glass.

"It felt different Dean. Real. Like when I dreamt about our old house. And Jessica," Sam explained. I winced. I, too, had hoped that this dream was going to turn out to be false. It was freaky having Sam predict the future through dreams.

"Yeah, that makes sense. You're dreaming about our house, your girlfriend. This guy in your dream, you ever seen him before?"

"No."

"No. Exactly," Dean sounded relived. "Why would you have premonitions about some random dude in Michigan?"

"I don't know," Sam replied. I felt bad for him. It had to be frightening to experience these dreams. Especially because they weren't a happy thing, but were actually terrifying nightmares.

"Me neither..."

Sam spoke back to the person on the phone. "Yes, I'm here." He listened, glaring at Dean in the meanwhile, and picked up a pen. "Jim Miller. Saginaw, Michigan. You have a street address? Got it. Thanks."

He hung up the phone and turned in his seat to face Dean. "Checks out. How far are we?"

"From Saginaw? Coupla hours."

"Drive faster."

We pulled up out front of Jim Miller's house a while later, which was surrounded by emergency vehicles. There was someone on a stretcher being zipped up into a body bag. I shuddered, and I wished I could see Sam's face. I hope he didn't blame himself or anything...

Stepping out of the Impala, we walked up towards the crowd. "What happened?" Dean asked a middle-aged blonde woman, who was looking towards the house with a saddened expression.

"Suicide," she said softly. "Can't believe it."

"Did you know them?" Sam asked, his hand linked in mine as he pulled me up next to him. I gripped his hand tightly, knowing he needed some sort of support.

"Saw him in every Sunday at St. Augustines. He always seems... seemed, so normal. I guess you never know what's going on behind closed doors," she said pensively. I nodded in silent agreement. You could know someone for years, but never come to know who they truly were on the inside. People often wore masks, something I saw in both my brothers. Something I sure even I did myself.

"Guess not," Dean murmured, staring straight ahead at the house as well.

"How did...ah. How are they saying it happened?" Sam asked carefully. I figured he was probably trying to compare the details to what he'd dreamed.

"I heard they found him in the garage," she replied, casting a side glance at Sam. "Locked inside his car with the engine running."

"Do you know about what time they found him?"

"Oh, it just happened about an hour or two ago. His poor family. I can't even imagine what they're going through." I wouldn't want to imagine it. My grip tightened on Sam's hand.

Looking up at the house, I realized what they were looking at. A woman stood, sobbing, leaning against a middle-aged man. Beside them was a distraught looking younger guy. Sam tugged lightly on my hand as he turned and walked back towards the Impala, Dean trailing behind.

Gently, Sam released my hand and leaned against the hood. Dean came to stand next to him, looking concerned. "Sam, we got here as fast as we could," he said.

"Not fast enough. It doesn't make any sense man," Sam looked down at his linked hands. "Why would I even have these premonitions if there wasn't a chance I could stop them from happening?"

"I dunno," Dean murmured.

Sam shook his head. "So, what do you think killed him?"

"Maybe the guy just killed himself? Maybe there's nothing supernatural going on at all," Dean shrugged.

"If his death was linked to Sam's vision, then isn't it something we should look into?" I asked. The boys looked down at me, and I noticed that again, they'd forgotten I was even here. I tried to hide the sadness, but it flashed momentarily in my eyes. Sam caught it, but thankfully he didn't comment on it.

Instead he nodded. "I watched it happen. He was murdered by something. I watched it trap him in the garage."

"What was it, a spirit, poltergeist, what?"

Sam's energy was starting to pick up, probably due to the frustration. "I don't know what it was. I don't know why I'm having these dreams. I don't know what the hell is happening Dean." Dean stared at Sam for a long moment. "What?"

Dean shrugged in response. "Nothing. I'm just- I'm worried about you man." I was worried about him too. I crossed my arms, looking up at them silently, feeling like I was intruding on something.

"Well, don't look at me like that!"

Dean looked away. "I'm not looking at you like anything." Suddenly, he turned his gaze back to Sam, and smirked slightly. "Though I gotta say, you do look like crap."

"Nice. Thanks."

Dean opened the Impala door. "Come on, let's just pick this up later on. We'll check out the house, talk to the family."

"Dean, you saw them, they're devastated. They're not going to want to talk to us," Sam exclaimed, moving to get into the Impala.

"Yeah, you're right. But I think I know who they will talk to."

"Who?"

Dean smirked, but never answered as we got into the Impala.

xxx

When we got to the hotel, I was pleased to see it was among the nicer ones we've stayed in. It had hardwood floors, and dark red drapes and matching duvets on the two queen sized beds. While my brothers changed into their outfits to pretend to be priests, I laid back against one of the beds. Sam came out of the bathroom, and Dean went in. If I were in a better mood, I would have chuckled at Sam in the black costume.

"Will you be mad if I sit this hunt out," I asked quietly, looking down at my lap.

Sam moved over in front of me, and crouched down so we were eye level. His face wore a worried expression, and I chastised myself for putting it there. "Are you feeling alright, Lexi?" he asked softly, grabbing my small hands in his large ones.

I nodded, and kept my eyes diverted. "Yes," I lied. "I'm just going to catch up on some sleep and I don't think you guys need me for this one anyways."

"If you're sure..." Sam trailed off. "Just keep your cellphone close, because we won't know how long we'll be gone."

I gave him a small smile and pulled my hands away. Noticing the concerned expression on his face deepen, I smiled a fake, wider smile, and leaned back against the cushions. Yawning dramatically, I cuddled down into the fabric.

xxx

After they had left, with hardly another word said, I felt the tears begin to spill. "Damn it," I cussed, knowing mom would have lashed me for swearing. I was so weak, tears all the time and for such stupid reasons. It was so hard to interact with my brothers. They were so much older, I hardly knew them, they didn't know me. Every time we took a step forward, it felt like we then took two steps back.

There was so much wrong here. It wasn't fair for dad to stick me on them like this. No option either way. They were obviously very content with just the two of them, and had to struggle with what to do with me on the cases. I was too young to be any help, and instead just hindered most of their investigations. I hugged the pillow to my chest, pressing my face into it as I sobbed harder. This was supposed to be a happy time, me finally getting to hunt with my brothers. Instead, it was pure agony as I've come to the realization that I was too late to fit in with their lifestyles.

Rash decision be damned, I opened up my bag and began putting the hotel water bottles inside. Perhaps they'd be happier if I left, not having to worry about me. It'd be easier for them to hunt without having to tow around an eight-year-old kid. At that thought, I froze. What day was it? I realized then that my birthday had already passed, and more tears welled up. I was nine. And nobody knew that I had made it to another year. Dad had obviously forgotten, and perhaps Sam and Dean didn't even know.

Steeling myself, I wiped the tears and swiped a few bills from Sam's bag that lay on the other bed. Not enough to leave him without anything, but enough to get me a good distance away. There wasn't much for food, except a few granola bars that I stashed into my back pack. I was going to have to leave behind most of my clothes, because I wouldn't be able to lug it all with me. Once I had the essentials packed, I looked back at the hotel room, before I opened the door, shutting it behind me firmly.

I had walked well over an hour, my bag jostling lightly on my shoulders, before my cell rang. Sighing, I reached down and saw that it was Sam calling. I muted the ringer, and trudged down the old highway, way out of town. Perhaps someone could give me a ride somewhere. I had no idea where to go, but somewhere where I wasn't a burden would be nice.

xxx

A few hours later, when the sun was starting to lower in the sky, a small blue car came to a rolling stop beside me. Peering inside, I smiled at the young blonde woman sitting in the passenger seat. "Hi there, sweetie," she said through the rolled down window. "Are you out here all by yourself?"

"Yeah," I answered quietly.

"Where you headed?"

"Anywhere but here," I replied, looking back ahead to the long road.

"You know hon', I'm going up to Minnesota if you'd like a ride," she said.

"Really!" I exclaimed, my face lighting up. "That would be awesome. Thank you so much!"

I got into the car, placing my bag between my knees as we drove off. "I'm Lexi, by the way."

"Nice to meet you! My name is Meg." I smiled at her, happy for something positive happening today. Sparing a glance at my phone, my smile faltered when I saw that I had 10 missed calls from Sam and 8 from Dean. Guilt gnawed at my insides, but I pushed it down and looked at the road ahead, listening as Meg began to speak beside me.

xxx

I ended up really liking Meg, and she dropped me off in a quaint little town of Hibbing, Minnesota in the early morning. I thanked her profusely, and headed into the town park to find a nice patch of sun to sit in. The sun had just peaked over the horizon, casting an orange glow over everything.

Bucking up, I held the phone up to my ear to listen to my voicemail. "You have 9 unheard messages..." the monotone lady spoke.

 _"Lexi? Why aren't you answering your phone? Is everything ok at the hotel? Give me a call when you get this."_ Sam.

 _"Where are you? Why did you leave the hotel? Please answer your phone."_ Sam.

 _"Lexi, I swear to god if you don't answer your phone... Sweetheart, please call."_ Dean.

 _"Honey, I'm sorry if we've done something to upset you, but please call us so we can come get you. It's not safe out there on your own,"_ Sam.

 _"Kiddo, please. We're going nuts here. Our jobs' finished and we're starting looking everywhere for you. We will find you, so please just make it easier and tell us. We're worried about you."_ Dean. Tears were slowly making their way down my face, dripping onto my lap. Their voices were filled with so much desperation, it broke my heart. Maybe I'd make the wrong decision.

 _"Sweetheart, we just need to know that you're safe... I'm sorry if we're tough to live with, but we can work something out. You just need to let us come get you,"_ Dean. I choked on a sob at that. It wasn't their faults. It was mine.

I couldn't even listen to the rest of the messages. I dialed Dean's number through bleary eyes and held it up to my ear. Only one ring went through. "Lexi?" Dean's voice came through the line, desperate.

"Hi Dean," I choked out. I could hear Sam in the background.

"Jesus sweetheart," he sounded breathless. "Where are you? Why would you take off on your own? You damn well know it's not safe out there!"

I winced. "I'm sorry," I sobbed. "I've been messing things up for you and Sammy. I don't want to be a burden anymore-"

"Hey, hey," Dean's voice was softer., interrupting me. I could almost picture his brows pinching together in concentration. "Look, we can talk about this later. Where are you?"

"I'm in a park, in Hibbing, Minnesota," I replied. The sounds of trees rustling behind me caught my attention, and I began to look around, paranoia beginning to set in.

"That's a long drive sweetheart, but we'll be there as fast as we can," he answered. "Are you somewhere safe?"

As I was about to answer, a tall figure appeared on my right, and I screamed loudly, dropping my phone. I could hear Dean yelling into the phone, as something hard came and struck me in the side of the head. The last thing I saw was my phone laying on the grass as the darkness took me.


	10. The Benders

**Authors' Note: Hey guys. The reviews are wonderful and I am so happy you guys love it. I really love emotional crap, so a lot of that is gonna be happening in this fan fiction. I never liked the "attitude filled sisters" in other Supernatural Sis-Fics. This chapter is short, I'm really sorry, but they can't all be long. I'm better at writing short chapters I guess haha. XD Enjoy!**

Chapter 9: The Benders

An angry pounding woke me up, resonating from the back of my skull. Groaning against the cold ground I was lying on, I reached up to brush the back of my head, finding some dried blood and a decent sized bump. What had happened? Looking around, I was shocked to see that I was in a steel cage, in a very dark barn.

Memories of talking to my brothers on the phone resurfaced, and then getting jumped from behind from by some tall figure. I couldn't remember anything after that, but fear began to escalate when I realized that I had no idea where I was, and my brothers would also be clueless as to where I was.

Trying to keep the tears at bay, I stood up slowly to see if I could find my own way out. The bars weren't thick, but there was no way I'd be able to break them. I noticed a figure sitting in another cage. "Is someone there?" I asked softly.

"Yeah," a gruff voice said from the opposite cage. "Thought they'd killed you kid. You've been out for over a full day."

"I've been here that long?" I said shocked. He nodded. "My name's Lexi, what's yours?"

"I'm Alvin Jenkins," he responded.

"Do you know what they are?" I asked, wanting to know what kind of monster we were dealing with. My bag, and jacket had been removed, leaving me in a t-shirt and jeans. I didn't like not having any protection on me.

The guy gave me a funny look. "What do you mean what are they? They're a bunch of nut-job country bumpkins with nothing better to do."

They were human? I shivered at that. It was common knowledge that people could be even more cruel than the supernatural, I just never thought they'd be a threat to me. Apparently, I was wrong. Sitting back down in the cage, I leaned against the bars, fighting to keep the panic down. People always had weird motives, and usually brutal ones. I didn't know if my brothers were even going to come looking for me, and if they did, how would they find me?

Time passed slowly, and I wasn't sure how long it had been, when the front barn door creaked open. Stiffening in anticipation at seeing the captors, I saw two shaggy men wearing old plaid jackets. They were pulling in a tall unconscious figure, and they tossed him ungracefully into the cage next to mine. I jolted when I realized that it was Sam, but I pretended to be still asleep while the two men were hustling around.

After a long stressful moment, I heard the barn door shut, and I threw myself at the cage wall that linked to Sam's. "Sammy?" I asked softly. "Sam. Sam!"

Slowly, Sam started to stir, and sat up groaning while rubbing the back of his head. He looked around, face worried, until his eyes locked on my face.

"Lexi?!" he exclaimed, rushing over to the bars. Reaching through the bars, he touched my face gently, and I leaned into the touch as tears pooled.

"Sammy," I murmured softly.

"Did they hurt you?" he asked, indicating to the dried blood in my hair.

"Just a bump on the back of the head," I replied. "Are you ok? Where's Dean?"

"He's going to be looking for us. We tracked your cellphone and found it in the park," he explained. "We went to look at the traffic cameras, but I got attacked in a parking lot. Do you know what they are?"

"They're just people, Sammy," I said quietly. "Alvin Jenkins is over there in that cage. He said they're just country people."

"People..." Sam mused. He grabbed my hands as I sat down, and he followed suit, pressing his shoulders into the bars so that he could still hold my hands. "Honey, why did you run away like that? Do you have any idea how worried we've been?"

I looked down at the ground. "Can we talk about it when we get out of here?" I asked. I really didn't want to have this conversation between bars.

Sam nodded, and squeezed my hand gently. "Dean will find us quickly. You should have seen him when you got taken on the phone. He's extremely worried about you."

A smile lifted the corners of my cheeks slightly, and I pressed the side of my head onto the bars to wait.

xxx

Eventually, Sam got restless and began pulling on the bars, trying to find a weak point. He'd moved to a wire that hung above the cage and began to pull on it. "What's your name again?" Jenkins asked.

"It's Sam."

"Why don't you give it up, Sammy, there's no way out."

"Don't... call me... Sammy!" he snapped between pulling on the coil. It came tearing down, and a small piece of metal fell on the floor.

"What is it?" I asked.

"It's a bracket," he replied, picking it up to look at it.

"Well, thank God, a bracket. Now we've got 'em, huh?" Jenkins said sarcastically. Suddenly his cage opened. "Must've been short. Maybe you knocked somethin' loose."

"I think you should get back in there, Jenkins," Sam warned, and I looked at him curiously.

"What?" Jenkins exclaimed, looking at Sam like he had sprouted a second head.

"This isn't right," Sam answered, looking around, eyes wary.

"Don't you wanna get out of here?"

"That was too easy," I realized out loud. "It's a trap."

"Look, I'm gonna get out of here, and I'm gonna send help, okay, don't worry," Jenkins said, moving to the barn door.

"No, Jenkins!" But Jenkins was already gone through the door. After a moment, his cage slammed shut, and my gut sank. It was a trap. He was going to die, and maybe we were next.

Sam moved back over to me, and reached out to touch my arm gently through the bars. "Don't worry Lexi, Dean is on his way."

The sounds of Jenkins' screams met our ears, and I squeezed my eyes shut as I began to shake. What an awful way to die... Sam rubbed my arms, trying to offer me some comfort with soothing murmurs. Hysteria was threatening to crawl up my throat, but I focused on Sam. Taking slow breaths, I managed to push the emotions down. That was one of mom's most important lessons: never panic - panicking will get you killed.

xxx

Several long hours passed in silence. I tried to get some sleep, but there was too much adrenaline in my system. When the front door open, I nearly shrieked, but I stayed in place and watched as a man threw a woman in Jenkin's old cage. She was wearing a dirty white t-shirt and her medium-length brown hair was down.

She woke not long after they left, groaning and rubbing her head. "You alright?" Sam asked, looking at the woman in concern.

"Are you Sam Winchester?" she asked, looking at my brother. "Is Alexandra here with you?"

Sam looked surprised. "Yeah, and she's right here." I offered a small wave when she looked over at me.

"Your, uh, your cousin's looking for you, he's out of his mind with worry," she said.

That was a relief, and I could see the light return to Sam's eyes. "Thank God. Where is he?"

"I, uh - I cuffed him to my car." I sighed along with Sam.

He opened his mouth to say something, when the door opened again. A broad figure entered the barn slowly, looking around warily at the surroundings. The figure stepped into the light, and spotted Sam in the cage. "Sam?" It was Dean. My heart leapt in my chest, and happy tears pricked my eyes. We were going to get out of here alive. "Are you hurt? Where's Lexi?"

"No," Sam shook his head, and he turned to look at me, a smile on his face.

"Dean," I murmured, standing up and walking to the bars.

A look of pure relief settled over his features as he swiftly moved to the front of my cage. "Jesus, baby-girl," he said, reaching up to gently touch my cheek, almost as if he was scared I would disappear. "You had me worried. Don't you ever, ever run off like that again, am I clear?"

I nodded, tears starting to spill. He wiped them away, before moving to look for a way to spring us loose.

"Damn it's good to see you," he said.

"How did you get out of the cuffs?" the woman, Kathleen, said.

"Oh, I know a trick or two," he chuckled. She just stared at him, confused. "Alright. Oh, these locks look like they're gonna be a bitch."

"Well, there's some kind of automatic control right there," Sam said, pointing to the control panel.

"Have you seen 'em?" Dean asked, looking at the panel.

"Yeah, dude, they're just people," Sam replied.

"And they jumped you?" Dean actually sounded like he found the situation funny. "Must be gettin' a little rusty there, kiddo. What do they want?"

"I don't know. They let Jenkins go, but that was some sort of trap. It doesn't make any sense to me."

"Well, that's the point. You know, with our usual playmates, there's rules, there's patterns. But with people, they're just crazy." I noticed the woman looking really confused, but we could just chalk it up to her head injury later.

"See anything else out there?"

"Uh, he has about a dozen junked cars hidden out back. Plates from all over, so I'm thinkin' when they take someone, they take their car, too."

"Did you see a black Mustang out there? About ten years old?" the cop said, looking up at Dean.

"Yeah, actually, I did," he replied. Her face turned sad. "Your brother's? I'm sorry. Let's get you guys out of here, then we'll take care of those bastards. This thing takes a key. Key?"

"I don't know," Sam murmured.

"Alright, I better go find it," he turned around to leave, and a whimper left my mouth unwillingly. He looked back at me, and his face softened. "Hey, baby-girl, don't worry. I'll be back in a sec to bust you guys out."

I nodded, while Sam asked him to be careful. I watched as he left, a bad feeling in my gut.

xxx

Not long after Dean had left, the door opened again. Glancing over, anticipating Dean, I jolted when the cage to my door opened and in walked a tall scruffy man in a blue plaid jacket with a ball cap. Shrieking, I moved backwards until my back hit the steel bars. "Leave her alone," Sam yelled, moving threateningly to the front of his cage, a dark look in his eyes. "Don't you lay one hand on her."

The guy smirked and looked down at me. "Pa wants to see you, and that's never a good thing. Come here you," he moved closer to me, and I moved to fight but was quickly subdued when he knocked my head against the bars hard enough to disorient me.

"Lexi! Lexi!" Sam yelled, as I was dragged off towards the house.

My mind began to clear as I was hauled into the house, and into one of the rooms. "Lexi! Get your hands off of her you son of a bitch!" Dean's voice met my ears, and I looked blearily up to see him tied to a chair. He was a little battered and bloodied, but nothing major.

"This is your baby sister," the older man standing beside Dean said, smiling a sick grin. His teeth were rotten and yellow, and his hair was greasy as he moved closer to me. "Now ain't she just a pretty thing? I don't think we'll hunt this one."

I shivered when his hand came up and dusted across my cheek. He smelled so bad, it made me want to gag. He grabbed a lock of my brown hair and held it up to his nose, sniffing it like it was some sort of drug, before tucking it behind my ear. "Oh, we'll be keeping you," he chuckled. "It gets so... lonely here without any women to tend to our needs."

My blood turned to ice at his words. Mom had spoken to me about what mortal men could do if they were warped in the mind. I knew exactly what he was hinting at. I whimpered, and looked at my older brother with wide, frightened eyes. "Dean," my voice cracked.

Dean's eyes turned from sad, to murderous as he looked at the men holding me. "If you lay one more hand on her, I'll rip out your intestines and hang you with them, you sons of bitches!" he screamed. The look in his eyes was frightening, and I didn't doubt he would do as he had threatened.

"Take her away, son," the older man said.

Suddenly I was being pulled down the hallway, and I screamed. "DEAN! Please no, no, no!" I sobbed, as I was hauled into another room and the man tossed me into the closet.

"You'll be a fun thing to play with," he said, his drawl thick as his hands moved to run down my sides in a way that made me feel disgusting. His nose came to sniff my hair, and automatically my fist came up and I punched him in the jaw.

His head snapped back, my knuckles throbbing, before his hand came down and slapped my cheek so hard I fell to the ground. "You bitch," he snarled, reaching down to pick my off the ground. My cheek was pulsating in time with my knuckles, pain radiating from both. He ripped my t-shirt, and tears leaked from my cheeks as I fumbled to keep myself covered. "Lots of life. Pa will like that. He'll suck every bit of life out of you."

He pushed me back into a closet, and I hit the wall hard. I heard the door slam and the sound of something sliding in front of the door. I tried to open it, but whatever was it front of it was too heavy for me to push with the door. Pounding on the door, I screamed loudly, but no one answered.

I couldn't hear anything happening, except for the muffled voices of the men and Dean. I banged on the door until my arms felt too heavy to move, and I collapsed into a heap in the corner, sobbing into my knees.

xxx

I don't know how much time had passed. I'd heard a gunshot at one point, and I had no idea if my brothers were even still alive. The fear I felt was unreal. It was like I was trapped in my worst nightmare. A horrible fate awaited me, and my brothers might be dead. The tears wouldn't stop, and the added pain from my bruised cheek and potentially broken knuckles didn't help.

I cried until I heard voices in the room. "Where is she, damn it?" Dean's voice sounded muffled through the door.

"There, the wardrobe!" Sam exclaimed. My heart leapt. They were both alright.

"Sam!" I called through the door, standing up to pound on it. "Dean!"

"Lexi!" they both shouted. I heard them grunt in effort as they slid the massive wardrobe away from the front of the door, before they opened it.

I lurched forward into their arms, sobbing softly. My t-shirt hung off me in tatters, and Sam was kind enough to take off his sweater and slid it over me. "Oh, sweetheart," Dean murmured, cupping my chin to look at my bruised cheek. He growled. "Did they touch you?"

"Not really," I mumbled. "I think I broke my hand."

Sam reached down gingerly to lift my bruised hand. The knuckles were an angry purple color and were throbbing painfully. "What happened?" he asked me.

"I punched him," I replied, looking at the ground.

Dean barked a laugh. "That's my girl," he said, reaching down to scoop me up. I wrapped my arms around his neck, allowing him to carry me as we left the house.

"Where are they?" I asked him.

"They're taken care of sweetheart," Dean replied softly. He was gently running a hand up and down my back, and I realized I was shaking. I curled up into him further, burying my face into his neck.

"I thought they'd killed you guys," I admitted. "They were gonna-." I broke off with a hiccup.

"Shh," Dean soothed. "Nothing happened baby-girl. We wouldn't have let anything happen to you."

They spoke with Kathleen quickly, who was kind enough to let us get a head start. As my brothers began walking, I nodded off in Dean's arms, into a welcoming dreamless sleep.


	11. Shadow

**Author's Note: Hey guys! :) A longer chapter here for you to enjoy. Things are sappy and slightly out-of-character as usual. I can't help it. I love the touchy-feely stuff way too much, so I probably put way too much into my stories, but it makes me happy. Hopefully some of you love this kind of stuff too! :) Enjoy! Thanks for the kind reviews. They mean so much! 3**

Chapter 10: Shadow

The feeling of someone's hand running soothingly up and down my back woke me. I was lying on a soft bed, my face turned away and towards the wall. The sound of soft murmurs met my ears; my brothers talking to each other quietly. "She's been asleep for so long, Sammy," Dean's voice was right beside me.

"She got kidnapped and locked in a closet dude," Sam said, his voice coming from a few feet away. "It's a lot for anybody to handle, let alone someone so young."

The memories of the crazy family and my kidnapping came back, and I stiffened, alerting my brothers that I was awake. "Lexi?" Dean's voice said softly, his hand reaching up to move the hair away from my face. I rolled over to face him, wincing when my other cheek met the pillow. Gingerly, I reached up to touch my cheek when I sat up. Something white caught my eye, and I noticed my right hand was wrapped up in a tensor bandage. "Easy sweetheart. It's not broken, but you did sprain it badly."

Sam stood up and grabbed a tray of food from the table and placed it in front of me. "You need to eat something," he said quietly. I looked down and smiled at the array of food. There was sliced toast, some strawberries, and M&M's, which must have been Dean's touch.

"Thank you," I replied, taking a strawberry and popping it into my mouth. The two stared at me, making me a little self-conscious. I knew they wanted to speak about my leaving, but I was nervous. Still, they were obviously waiting for me to say something. "I'm sorry I left."

"Why did you?" Sam asked. Dean was sitting next to Sam on the opposite bed.

I kept my gaze locked on the tray of food. "You guys don't need me," my voice was so quiet, I would be surprised if they heard me. "I'm not as good as mom wanted me to be. I get scared too easily, I'm not as brave as I should be, and I get in your guys' way on hunts, or I get you hurt!" My voice was getting louder, and neither of them said anything. They knew I needed to get this off my chest.

"I have to stay behind when you interview people, which I understand because I'm too young to go undercover. You guys don't need me when you're hunting. You do better when I'm not around, and I know you're both happier when I'm not following you both around. It wasn't fair of dad to stick me on you, and I'm sorry he did-"

"That's bullshit and you know it, Alexandra," Dean snapped, posture tense as he looked at me.

Sam put a hand on Dean's shoulder, and the tension began to leave Dean's frame. "Honey, we love having you here. You keep things fun and entertaining, you're the happiness that we were missing. Our hunting party feels complete with you here."

"We want you here with us, Lexi. Don't you dare ever leave again, especially like that," Dean looked aged as he said it, and I realized then how truly worried they had both been. "Do you realize what could have happened to you? We're lucky we got to you this time. You're safe with us, it's our job to keep you safe, and it's your job to keep me and Sammy in line. We're a family, and family sticks together."

A lone happy tear slipped down my cheek, and I moved my tray aside. Turning, I flung myself onto the other bed and into Dean's awaiting arms, hugging him tightly. He pressed a kiss to the crown of my head, before I moved over and was in another bone-crushing hug from Sam. "Thank you," I murmured into his neck. He responded by squeezing me tighter.

"You know we love you, right Lexi?" I jolted when the words left Dean's mouth, and I looked up at him wide eyed. That was the first time I'd heard those words from anyone but mom and dad. My mouth gaped open like a fish, and new tears began to sting my eyes.

"I love you guys, too," I squeaked out.

"Well, that's enough chick-flick moments for now," Dean said, breaking the tense moment. I chuckled and climbed off of Sam.

I noticed I was still wearing the dirty clothes and Sam's sweater from the kidnapping. "I'm going to go shower," I said, moving to grab my bag.

"Hang on," Sam said. He grabbed my injured hand gently, and unwound the bandage. I winced when the pressure was released, and looked down at my black and purple knuckles.

"Thanks," I murmured, moving into the bathroom. I shed my dirt clothes, and climbed into the shower. Turning on the hot water, I felt all the tension leave my body. It was difficult to scrub the blood from the small bump on the back of my head with a sprained hand, but I managed to get myself and my hair clean.

Once I dried off, I caught my reflection in the mirror. My cheek, from where the guy had struck me, was a deep purple spreading from the corners of my lips up to the bottom of my eye. My eyes were sunken, and I had deep bags underlining my lower eyelids. I looked a lot older than a nine-year-old, while at the same time, I looked young and extremely fragile. There had been so much stress over the last week and it had taken its toll on my body.

Sighing, I brushed my teeth and got dressed in some sweat pants and a baggy hoodie. My wet hair I left hanging loose over my shoulders to air-dry, as I walked back out into the hotel room. It was still mid-morning, and Sam was sitting at the table on the laptop, while Dean was cleaning a gun on the bed. I smiled softly when I realized it was my gun.

"You didn't have to do that," I said, walking over to stand next to him, watching as he cleaned the interior of my handgun.

He smirked up at me. "Gives me something to do," he shrugged.

Sam appeared beside me with a new tensor bandage. I sat down next to Dean and offered him my injured hand as he reapplied the support wrap. I winced at the pressure. "Sorry," he murmured, catching my wince. "It's gonna be sore for at least a few weeks."

"What's our next case?" I asked as Sam finished my wrap.

"We're going to check out an animal-like attack in Chicago," he replied, moving to start packing his bag. "We should head out now if we want to make good time. Do you feel up to travelling?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm good," I replied, moving to throw my things together. Dean had finished my gun and passed it to me with a smile. "Thanks."

"No worries, sweetheart," he smirked, ruffling my hair before he moved to grab his bags.

Within twenty minutes, we hit the road, listening to Dean belting out AC/DC songs.

xxx

We pulled up out front of an apartment building couple days later. We parked across the street and climbed out. Dean and Sam were dressed as employees of an alarm system company. I asked if I needed to stay behind, but the assured me that they had a good reason for why they'd have a kid with them. Dean grabbed a toolbox from the trunk of the car, and we moved towards the apartment.

"All right, this is the place," Sam said.

"You know, I've gotta say Dad and me did just fine without these stupid costumes," Dean replied, looking down at his outfit is disgust. "I feel like a high school drama dork. What was that play you did? What was it - Our Town. Yeah, you good, it was cute."

"Look, you wanna pull this off or not?" Sam snapped back impatiently.

"I'm just sayin', these outfits cost hard-earned money, okay?"

"Whose?"

"Ours. You think credit card fraud is easy?" I chuckled at Dean's reply.

We went into the apartment and spoke with the landlady. Dean informed her that I was his daughter, and it was "bring-your-kid-to-work" day. I had applied a generous amount of make-up to my face to cover the bruise.

"Thanks for letting us look around," Sam said to her.

"Well, the police said they were done with the place, so..." she trailed off and looked at me. "Are you sure she's ok to see what's in there?"

Dean nodded. "She's a tough kid, she plans on being a cop one day, so here's some exposure."

We moved into the apartment room, and Dean shut the apartment door behind us. In the living room, spots of blood covered the carpet. "You guys said you were with the alarm company?" she asked my brothers.

"That's right," Dean replied, lying easily.

"Well, no offense, but your alarm's about as useful as boobs on a man." I snorted at that, earning a look from my brothers.

"Well, that's why we're here. To see what went wrong and stop it from happening again."

"Now, ma'am, you found the body?" Sam inquired. I stayed on the sidelines, looking around the room.

"Yeah," the landlady responded. Her eyes taking on a far-off look.

"Right after it happened?"

"No. Few days later. Meredith's work called - she hadn't shown up. I knocked on the door. That's when I noticed the smell." I wrinkled my nose at that.

"Any windows open? Any sign of a break-in?" Dean asked.

"No, windows were locked, front door was bolted. Chain was on the door, we had to cut it just to get in."

"And the alarm was still on?"

"Like I said, bang-up job your company's doin'."

"Mmhmm. You see any overturned furniture, broken glass, signs of struggle?"

The landlady shook her head. "Everything was in perfect condition - except Meredith."

"And what condition was Meredith in?" Sam asked.

"Meredith was all over. In pieces. The guy who killed her must have been some kind of a whackjob. But I tell you, if I didn't know any better, I'd have said a wild animal did it." I noticed my brothers sharing a look.

"Ma'am, do you mind if we take some time? Give this place a once-over?"

"Oh, well, go right ahead. Knock yourself out."

Once she had left, Dean opened his toolbox and removed the EMF meter. "So, a killer walks in and out of the apartment - no weapons, no prints, nothin'."

"I'm telling you, the minute I found that article, I knew this was our kind of gig," Sam said. The EMF meter began to beep frantically, and I jumped a little as I turned to Dean.

"I think I agree with you," Dean replied.

"So, you talked to the cops?" Sam asked, indicating to when Dean had stopped off at the police station earlier that day.

"Uh, yeah," Dean smirked. I lifted a brow at his funny expression. "I spoke to Amy, a, uh... charming, perky officer of the law."

"Yeah? What'd you find out?" Sam asked.

Dean got a dreamy look in his eyes. "Well, she's a Sagittarius. She loves tequila, I mean - wow. Oh, and she's got this little tattoo-"

"Dean!" Sam snapped and I burst out laughing, earning a look from Dean.

"What? Yeah. Uh, nothin' we don't already know. Except for one thing they're keeping out of the papers."

"Hm?"

"Meredith's heart was missing."

"Her heart?" I squeaked.

"Yeah," Dean answered.

"What would do that?" I asked, looking up at them with wide eyes.

"Well, the landlady said it looked like an animal attack. Maybe it was - werewolf?" Dean mused.

"No, no werewolf, the lunar cycle's not right," Sam replied. "Plus, if it was a creature, it would've left some kind of trace. It's probably a spirit."

Dean looked at the blood on the carpet with an interesting look. He reached into the toolbox and pulled out some masking tape. Sam and I watched in confusion as he began connecting each pool of blood, until it had formed an unusual symbol.

"Ever see that symbol before?" Sam asked.

"Never," Dean replied, and I shook my head.

"Me neither." We all exchanged a look.

xxx

We walked into a bar late that night, only to be stopped by a young blonde woman. "Excuse me, we don't allow kids in here," she said, pointing at me.

"Hey sweetheart," Dean winked at her, taking a step towards the busty woman. "We're taking our sister on a road trip, and we really wanted to hit up at least one bar. We'll keep a close eye on her."

"Well..." the woman raked her eyes up and down Dean's form. "As long as one of you keeps an eye on her." Dean took the hint and winked at us, before using a hand to guide her to the bar counter.

Sam rolled his eyes, and put his hand on my back as we went to one of the corner tables. Sam began to sift through Dad's journal while I looked around.

Loud music was blaring through the speakers, and there were a few sleazy looking guys by the counter doing shots. Some half naked girl was grinding on a pole on a small stage, and she was wearing the most ridiculously high heels I'd ever seen. "How does she not break an ankle?" I asked out loud.

Sam moved his gaze to what I was looking at, and he instantly reached out and turned my cheek so that I was looking at him. "You don't need to see that," he said, not answering my question. I shrugged and looked down at the journal he was sifting through.

Dean came back after a few minutes. "I talked to the bartender," he said, taking a seat next to us.

"Did you get anything? Besides her number?" Sam smirked.

"Dude, I'm a professional. I'm offended that you would think that," Dean responded, feigning offence. I scoffed while Sam just gave him a look. "All right, yeah." He waved a napkin with the bartender's phone number on it.

"You mind doin' a little bit of thinking with your upstairs brain, Dean?"

"What's that mean?" I asked, looking between them both. Dean burst out laughing, while Sam blushed a deep read.

"You said it, dude," Dean barked a laugh.

"Never mind," Sam said to me, and I rolled my eyes.

"Look, there's nothing to find out. I mean, Meredith worked here, she waited tables, everyone here was her friend. Everybody said she was normal. She didn't do or say anything weird before she died, so - what about that symbol, you find anything?"

"Nope, nothing," Sam responded. "I just have to dig a little deeper, I guess."

"Well, there was a first victim, right? Before Meredith?"

"Right, yeah," Sam said, pulling out the newspaper clipping regarding the first death. "His name was, uh- his name was Ben Swardstrom. Last month he was found mutilated in his town house. Sam deal - the door was locked, the alarm was on."

"Is there a connection between both of them?" I asked.

"Not that I can tell - I mean, not yet, at least," Sam replied, brows furrowed together. "They never met, never knew anyone in common - they were practically from different worlds."

"So, to recap, the only successful intel we've scored so far is the bartender's phone number," Dean smirked. Sam noticed something on the other side of the room. "Sam?" Sam stood up and walked away to another table, where a short blonde-haired woman was seated with her back to them. I jolted when I realized I recognized that woman.

"Meg," Sam said.

"Sam! Is that you? Oh, my God!" she exclaimed. She stood up and they hugged, Sam looking puzzled. "What are you doing here?"

I couldn't hear their conversation, but I was lost in thought anyways. Meg knew Sam. Was it a coincidence then that she'd also given me a ride to Hibbing? Something wasn't right about her, and I was going to find out what. Dean went to walk over to her, but I stopped him. "I have to go to the bathroom," I lied, not wanting Meg to see me.

"Go ahead, Sweetheart," he said, pointing to the bathroom on the other side of the room. Smiling at him, I turned and darted into the bathroom.

I locked the stall door and leaned against it. Meg was here, where we were looking for a new case. She knew Sam, and had given me a drive not long ago. That was way too big of a coincidence. What was I going to do? Do I tell my brothers, or wait a little and see if it maybe is just a massive coincidence?

After a few minutes, Dean's voice came through the bathroom. "Lexi? Everything alright, sweetheart?"

"Yup, coming!" I said, darting out of the bathroom. We walked back towards the car in silence, before Dean stopped Sam.

"Who the hell was she?" Dean asked.

"I don't really know. I only met her once. Meeting up with her again? I don't know, man, it's weird," Sam replied.

"And what was she saying? I treat you like luggage? What, were you bitchin' about me to some chick?" Dean exclaimed, sounding angry.

"Look, I'm sorry, Dean. It was when we had that huge fight when I was in that bus stop in Indiana. But that's not important, just listen -"

"Well, is there any truth to what she's saying? I mean, am I keeping you against your will, Sam?" I bit my lip as they argued.

"No, of course not. Now, would you listen?"

"What?"

"I think there's something strange going on here, Dean."

"Yeah, tell me about it. She wasn't even that into me."

"No, man, I mean like our kind of strange. Like, maybe even a lead," Sam replied, looking concerned.

"Why do you say that?"

"I met Meg weeks ago, literally on the side of the road. And now, I run into her in some random Chicago bar? I mean, the same bar where a waitress was slaughtered by something supernatural? You don't think that's a little weird?" I continued gnawing on my lip, wondering if I should speak up.

"I don't know, random coincidence. It happens."

"Guys," I murmured quietly. They both turned to look at me instantly, and they frowned when they saw the look on my face.

"Is everything ok, honey?" Sam asked, looking down at me worriedly.

"When I ran away, I hitchhiked to get away..." I replied, then looked at them with wide blue eyes. "Meg was the one who drove me to Hibbing."

Dean looked shell-shocked, as he rocked back on his heels. Sam stiffened, and his brows furrowed. "You got a car with a stranger?" Dean asked after a minute. Really?! That's what he was worried about! "Lexi, do you understand how dangerous that is?"

Even Sam looked surprised by Dean's poorly-timed mother-hen mode. "Dean, now is not the time. We need to figure out who, or what she is, and what she wants," Sam said. "Do me a favor. Check and see if there's really a Meg Masters from Andover, Massachusetts, and see if you can't dig up anything on that symbol on Meredith's floor."

"What are you gonna do?" Dean asked.

"I'm gonna watch Meg."

"Yeah, you are," Dean laughed. I rolled my eyes.

"I just want to see what's what. Better safe than sorry," he replied. "She had our little sis in close quarters. I want to make sure she's not dangerous."

Dean and I parted from Sam, and made our way back to the motel room. Once there, I flopped down on the bed while Dean pulled up the laptop and began researching Meg and the symbol. I was just starting to doze off, when Dean spoke. "Let me guess. You're lurking outside that poor girl's apartment, aren't you?" Dean said. I looked up and saw that he was on the phone. Sitting up, I pushed the hair back from my face.

"You've got a funny way of showin' your affection," Dean chuckled. He was silent for a moment as Sam spoke. "Sorry, man, she checks out. There is a Meg Masters in the Andover phonebook. I even pulled up her high school photo. Now, look, why don't you go knock on her door and, uh, invite her to a poetry reading, or whatever it is you do, huh?"

So, Meg checked out. Maybe it all was just some massively huge coincidence then.

"Yeah, that I did have some luck with. It's, uh - turns out it's Zoroastrian. Very, very old school, like two thousand years before Christ. It's a sigil for a Daeva." I tilted my head a little at that. I'd never heard of a Daeva before. "It translates to 'demon of darkness'. Zoroastrian demons, and they're savage, animalistic, you know, nasty attitudes - kind of like, uh, demonic pit bulls."

Sam said something into the phone, before Dean spoke again. "Give me some credit, man. You don't have a corner on paper chasin' around here. No, I called Dad's friend, Caleb. He told me, alright?"

I realized I must have actually fallen asleep at some point, because I couldn't remember Dean speaking to Caleb. I was more tired than I thought. "Anyway, here's the thing - these Daevas, they have to be summoned, conjured... Yeah, that's what I'm saying. And, from what I gather, it's pretty risky business, too. These suckers tend to bite the hand that feeds them. And, uh, the arms, and torsos."

After a moment, Dean spoke again. "Well, nobody knows, but nobody's seen 'em for a couple millennia. I mean, summoning a demon that ancient? Someone really knows their stuff. I think we've got a major player in town. Now, why don't you go give that girl a private strip-o-gram? No, bite her. Don't leave teeth marks though- Sam? Are you-? Bastard hung up on me."

I chuckled, and Dean turned to give me a look, but I caught the smirk on his face.

Sam came bursting into the apartment over an hour later. "Dude, I gotta talk to you," Sam said, rushing forward to speak with Dean. I tilted my head and walked closer, interested in what he had found out.

xxx

"So, hot little Meg is summoning the Daeva?" Dean smirked after Sam finished explaining what he had seen.

"Looks like she was using that black altar to control the thing," Sam explained.

"So, Sammy's got a thing for the bad girl," Dean chuckled. Sam and I both rolled our eyes. "And what's the deal with that bowl again?"

"She was talking into it. The way witches used to scry into crystal balls or animal entrails. She was communicating with someone."

"With the Daeva?" I asked.

"No, those things are savages. No, this was someone different. Someone who's giving her orders. Someone who's comin' to that warehouse."

Dean looked pensive for a moment, before he looked at the files on the table. Moving over to it, he quickly sifted through them. "Holy crap," he murmured.

"What?" Sam and I said at the same time.

"What I was gonna tell you earlier - I pulled a favor with my... friend, Amy, over at the police department. The complete records of the two victims - we missed something the first time." We moved closer to look at the files. "The first victim, the old man - he spent his whole life in Chicago, but he wasn't born here. Look where he was born."

"Lawrence, Kansas," Sam read quietly.

"Mmhmm," Dean agreed, picking up the second file. "Meredith, second victim - turns out she was adopted. And guess where she's from." The paper clearly read 'Lawrence, Kansas.' Sam and I sat down across from Dean, shell shocked at the news.

"Holy crap," Sam said after a long moment. "I mean, it is where the demon killed Mom. That's where everything started. So, you think Meg's tied up with the demon?"

"I think it's a definite possibility," Dean replied.

"But what's the significance?" I asked. "Where does the Daeva fit into this?"

"Beats me. But I say we trash that black altar, grab Meg, and have ourselves a friendly little interrogation."

"No, we can't," Sam interjected. "We shouldn't tip her off. We've gotta stake out that warehouse. We've gotta see who, or what, is showin' up to meet her."

"I'll tell you one thing. I don't think we should do this alone," Dean added. Sam and I agreed, so Dean picked up the phone and dialed Dad's cell. Sam went out to the Impala to sort through their weapons.

After a few moments, Dean spoke up. "We think we've got a serious lead on the thing that killed Mom. So, uh, this warehouse - it's 1435 West Erie. Dad, if you get this, get to Chicago as soon as you can."

"Voicemail?" Sam asked as he walked in carrying bags of weapons. My eyes widened at the vast amount of weapons he was surely carrying.

"Yeah," Dean replied, before gesturing to the bags. "Jesus, what'd you get?"

"I ransacked the trunk. Holy water, every weapon that I could think of, exorcism rituals from about half-a-dozen religions. I'm not sure what to expect, so I guess we should just expect everything."

I moved over to the bed and helped them sort through and load up all the weapons. There were all sorts of knives, different varieties of bullets, long swords, pistols, sawed-off shot guns, canisters of holy water... everything that hunters should have and more was here.

"Big night," Dean murmured, looking down at me. "Would you stay behind if I asked you too?"

"Depends on why you want me to stay behind," I replied honestly, loading up another weapon with pure silver bullets. I looked up at Dean, biting my lip self-consciously. Did they not want me around because it was their mom and not mine?

"It's going to be dangerous," Dean sighed, running a hand over his face. "I don't want to see you in such a risky situation. We have no idea what's gonna be in there. It feels wrong to bring my baby-sis in there with us." Sam nodded in agreement, but said nothing.

"If that's why, then I'm definitely coming. You're going to need all the help you can get, and I promise I won't get in the way. I might even be of use!" I put on the puppy dog eyes, making them big and round.

"Those eyes aren't fair," Dean exclaimed. "Sammy did you teach her how to do that?"

Sam looked down at me and laughed, and I couldn't help but crack a smile. "Nope," he replied.

"I learned all on my own," I grinned. "Does this mean I can come?"

A loud and long sigh came from Dean. "Fine, but you stick with me or Sam like glue, alright?"

I moved close to Sam and leaned against his leg and hip. "Like glue," I replied, and we all chuckled.

xxx

In the warehouse, we came to an elevator gate that we were going to have to climb up. Before I could even object, Dean scooped me up and tucked me against his chest. "Keep your legs and arms tight, do not let go," he said, as he started to climb. I clung to him like a spider monkey, closing my eyes as he slowly climbed up. I could hear his heart pounding from the exertion, and I felt bad that he had to lug me up here.

When we reached the top, we could see Meg standing at the altar, speaking in an ancient language. We all drew our guns, and quietly moved to the other side of the room to hide behind some crates.

"Guys," Meg said. We all looked at each other stunned. "Hiding's a little bit childish, don't you think?"

"Well, that didn't work out like I planned," Dean said as Meg turned around to face us. Dean reached down and pulled me into his side and slightly behind him. I rolled my eyes, but accepted it.

"Why don't you come out?" she said. We moved away from the crates. "Sam, I have to say, this puts a real crimp in our relationship."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Sam scoffed, keeping his shotgun pointed at her.

"So, where's your little Daeva friend?" Dean asked, his gun raised to Meg's face.

"Around," she smirked. "You know, that shotgun's not gonna do much good."

"Oh, don't worry, sweetheart. The shotgun's not for the demon."

"So, who is it, Meg? Who's coming? Who are you waiting for?"

"You," Meg answered. I stiffened as a shadow began to form on the wall. Sam suddenly groaned in pain as he flew back into the wall, a large scratch marring up his face. Before I could move to help him, I was ripped away from Dean and I let out a scream as I was thrown into the opposite wall of Sam.

"Lexi!" Dean shouted, before he too was tossed into the stack of crates. Then everything went black.

xxx

I groaned as I came too. Blood was dripping down my face in thin rivets, from a large scratch along my temple. The russet smell made me a little nauseous and the room was spinning from where I'd hit my head on the wall. I went to move my hands, only to find that they were bound tightly around a post behind my back. Panicking, I struggled on them, looking around wildly.

"Lexi, try to relax sweetheart," Dean's soothing voice said, and I looked over to see him and Sam also tied to posts, and Meg staring at us with a grin. "Hey, Sam. Don't take this the wrong way, but your girlfriend... is a bitch."

"This, the whole thing, was a trap," Sam realized out loud. "Running into you at the bar, following you here, hearing what you had to say, it was all a set-up, wasn't it? And that the victims were from Lawrence?"

"It doesn't mean anything," Meg laughed. "It was just to draw you in, that's all."

"You killed those two people for nothing," Sam accused, looking angry.

"Baby, I've killed a lot more for a lot less," she smirked. I shivered at the cold look in her eyes. This girl was dangerous, and it eluded me how I was so comfortable in a car with her for so long.

"You trapped us," Dean said. "Good for you. It's Miller time. But why don't you kill us already?"

"Not very quick on the uptake, are we?" she leaned closer to Dean. "This isn't a trap for you."

I jolted when I realized what she meant, and Sam immediately spoke up. "Dad. It's a trap for Dad."

"Oh, sweetheart - you're dumber than you look. 'Cause even if Dad was in town, which he is not, he wouldn't walk into something like this. He's too good."

"He is pretty good, I'll give you that," she said, stalking closer to Dean. She sat down, straddling his legs. "But you see, he has one weakness."

"What's that?"

"You. He lets his guard down around his boys and baby girl; lets his emotions cloud his judgment. I happen to know he is in town. And he'll come and try to save you. And then the Daevas will kill everybody - nice and slow and messy."

"Well, I've got news for ya. It's gonna take a lot more than some... shadow to kill him." I was surprised at Dean's faith in Dad. I, for one, was terrified of the Daeva. How did one fight a shadow?

"Oh, the Daevas are in the room here - they're invisible Their shadows are just the only part you can see." I shivered at that, knowing we were surrounded by invisible, dangerous monsters.

"Why are you doing this, Meg? What kind of deal you got worked out here, huh? And with who?" Sam asked. I could tell he was getting angry.

"I'm doing this for the same reasons you do what you do - loyalty. Love. Like the love you had for Mommy - and Jess."

"Go to hell," Sam growled.

"Baby, I'm already there," she slid over onto Sam. "Come on, Sam. There's no need to be nasty." She whispered something into his ear, but I couldn't make out what she had said.

"Get a room, you two," Dean snapped.

"I didn't mind. I liked that you were watching me. Come on, Sammy. You and I can still have a little dirty fun." She leaned forward and began to kiss his neck. I kept my eyes on Sam worriedly.

"You wanna have fun? Go ahead then. I'm a little tied up right now," Sam said, while Meg smiled and kept kissing him. A noise sounded from Dean's side of the room, and she froze, walking up behind Dean's post. She takes the knife away from his hands and chucks it into a corner. She smiled at Dean, who chuckled guiltily.

As she moved back over to Sam, she shook her head at him. "Now, were you just trying to distract me while your brother cuts free?"

"No. No. That's because I have a knife of my own." Meg looked confused. In a flash, Sam burst free and grabbed Meg's shoulders as leverage to bash his head against hers. She fell to the floor, while he groaned in pain.

"Sam! Get the altar," Dean shouted. Sam moved over to the altar and overturned it. A shadow demon appeared, and grabbed Meg, dragging her across the floor and crashing her through the window and to the street below.

Sam darted over to Dean and quickly cut him free, before freeing me from the post. Helping me to my feet, Sam held my hand and we went to the window, where Meg was sprawled out on the sidewalk, dead.

"So, I guess the Daevas didn't like being bossed around," Sam said.

"Yeah, I guess not. Hey, Sam?" Dean asked.

"Hm?"

"Next time you wanna get laid, find a girl that's not so buckets-o'-crazy, huh?" He smiled and I let out a few giggles.

xxx

As we walked back through the halls of the motel to get to the room, Dean spoke up. "Why didn't you just leave that stuff in the car?" He was indicating to the bags Sam carried full of weapons.

"I said it before, and I'll say it again - better safe than sorry." Dean shrugged and moved to unlock the room door. We walked in, and froze when we saw the outline of a man by the window. Instantly Dean grabbed me and shoved me between him and Sam.

"Hey!" Dean hollered, as Sam turned on the light. The man turned around, and our jaws dropped. "Dad?"

"Hey, boys," he greeted. Dean walked forward and the two shared a long hug, Sam watching sadly. "Hi babygirl."

I unfroze at those words and launched myself into his arms, tears escaping my eyes as he pulled me into his safe, warm embrace. "Daddy," I sobbed out.

"It's ok, baby. I'm here," he soothed, running his hand up and down my back.

"Dad, it was a trap. I didn't know, I'm sorry," Dean rushed to apologize.

"It's all right. I thought it might've been," Dad answered, still holding onto me as I clung to him. I didn't plan on letting go anytime soon. It had been so long since I had last seen him.

"Were you there?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I got there just in time to see the girl take the swan dive. She was the bad guy, right?"

"Yes, sir," both of my brothers answered at the same time.

"Good. Well, it doesn't surprise me. It's tried to stop me before," John sat down, moving me so I was cradled against his chest. In other circumstances, I would've hated being treated as if I was still a baby. But right now, I was too happy to have him here.

"The demon has?" Sam sounded surprised.

"It knows I'm close. It knows I'm gonna kill it. Not just exorcise it or send it back to hell - actually kill it." I shuddered inwardly at the murderous tone in his voice. It wasn't one I was used to hearing from him.

"How?" Dean inquired.

"I'm workin' on that," Dad answered, but I could hear the smile in his voice. He had a plan.

"Let us come with you, we'll help," Sam exclaimed.

"No, Sam. Not yet. Just try to understand. This demon is a scary son of a bitch. I don't want you caught in a crossfire. I don't want you hurt."

"Dad, you don't have to worry about us," Sam retorted. Dad sighed, and put me down on the bed. I whimpered at the loss, but suddenly Dean was in front of me, with a damp cloth as he wiped the blood off of my forehead from where I'd been thrown into the wall.

"Of course I do, I'm your father," Dad said. He paused for a moment. "Listen, Sammy, last time we were together, we had one hell of a fight."

"Yes, sir," Sam agreed, eyes looking suspiciously damp.

"It's good to see you again. It's been a long time."

"Too long." They each moved forward, and hugged one another. I noticed tears in both their eyes, and smiled softly.

As they separated, a large shadow appeared, and everything began to move fast. I watched in horror as Dad was thrown into a set of cabinets by the demon, and he fell to the ground. Sam fell next, tossed aside onto the ground.

A loud scream escaped me as I suddenly found myself airborne, before I slammed into the ground hard. The wind was knocked out of me, and I lay gasping for breath. "NO!" I heard Dean yell, before the sound of him hitting the ground met my ears.

I screamed as claws raked across my chest and along the side of my face. It felt like sharp fire, burning from the top to the bottom of the scratches. I could hear my family yelling and groaning in pain as they were also being torn into.

"Shut your eyes!" Sam yelled. "These things are shadow demons, so let's light them up!" I squinted my eyes shut, but still saw the bright white light that lit up the whole room. The pressure on me vanished, and I could hear the others spluttering and coughing. The demons were gone.

"Lexi! Dad!" Dean yelled from somewhere not too far away.

"Over here!" John replied. "Lexi?!"

All that came out was a groan as I closed up on myself, trying to find a way to stop the pain. The one on my face was tolerable, but my chest was aching, and I felt the blood pooling around. I heard three voices shout my name. "Dad, she's losing too much blood," Dean shouted, and I felt his hands pushing something soft onto the cuts. I yelped in pain at the pressure, trying to shift away from it. "Easy, sweetheart. We've got to stop the bleeding. You're going to be ok. You'll be ok."

"We don't have much time," Sam said, moving up to my side with Dad. "As soon as the flare's out, they'll be back."

"Wait, wait, wait! Sam, wait. Dad, you can't come with us," Dean said, pushing down on my chest hard. I felt lightheaded, and I wished they would stop shouting, but I couldn't seem to form words. My breathing felt ragged, and my limbs began to feel cold. A part of me hoped I wasn't dying, while another part just wanted the pain to end.

"What? What are you..." Sam's voice trailed off, as I slipped into a blissful, pain free abyss.


	12. Hell House

**Author's Note: Hi guys. This chapter is kind of short, but does have some nice fluff moments. I'm really sorry if my writing feels rushed, but I'm so excited to move onto the later chapters. I have so many wicked, Lexi-Dean-Sam angst moments that I want to get to. I have to make a warning for the later chapters or sequels in this story. I am starting to build up Lexi's character to having Depression. I want to warn people now in case this will bother them. I believe that both Sam and Dean suffer from Depression in the show, and I want to open up the female aspect of this for Lexi in later chapters, and sequels. There may be self-harm, and suicidal-thoughts eventually. I will warn at the beginning of every chapter.**

 **If this sincerely bothers you, I apologize before hand. But do understand, under no circumstance will the mental illness become the main plot in this story. The true plot will remain following the show's story-line, with brother-sister angst and fluff. Thank you for understanding that it is important for me to explore this side of our wonderful Lexi. Enjoy this chapter. :)**

Chapter 11: Hell House

A regular beeping sound, separated by about one second, was the first thing I heard when I woke up. It kind of sounded like a heart monitor in a hospital. My eyes were practically glued shut, and I felt too tired to open them. There was a dull, but deep ache in my chest that ran from the bottom of my collar bone all the way to the bottom of my sternum, which I guess wasn't far on the body of a nine-year-old.

I had no idea where I was, and the last thing I could remember was the Daevas attacking my brothers and dad. That thought startled me. Were they alright? I couldn't remember anything else, like if they were even alive. The motivation to find out was enough to make me open my eyelids, which I regretted instantly.

Florescent white lights caused my pupils to constrict angrily, and I groaned as I clenched my eyes shut again. Steeling myself after a few seconds, I slowly peeled my eyes open again, squinting and blinking rapidly as I turned my head stiffly to look to the side. The first thing I saw was the massive monitor I was hooked up too. I was in a hospital bed, my sprained hand wrapped and sitting on my stomach, while my other was hooked up to the pulse reader and an IV machine. There was an oxygen tube attached to my face, and I had to resist the urge to rip it off.

Moving my neck slowly to face the other side of the room, I jolted when I saw two large figures sprawled out on two uncomfortable looking chairs. It was Sam and Dean, both passed out asleep, and snoring softly. They each had bandages patched onto their faces; probably to cover wounds from the Daevas. Their eyes bore dark bags underneath them, and even at sleep they didn't look peaceful.

I almost didn't want to wake them, knowing they probably needed some sleep, but I really wanted to know what happened, and where Dad was. "Dean," I called softly. "Sam."

Nothing. "Dean, Sam!" I called a little louder.

Dean stirred, and his eyes opened as he looked around blearily, almost confused. When his eyes locked on mine, he stiffened. "Lexi!" he exclaimed loudly, also jolting Sam from his sleep. "It's damn good to see your eyes open. You had us worried, sweetheart."

His hand came up to tenderly brush some hair back from my face, while his eyes took in my features. He'd been scared, I could see that much plain as day on his face. Sam stood up too, and came to gently touch my hand. "How are you feeling?" he asked quietly.

"Just sore," I admitted. "Where's Dad? Is he alright? What happened to the Daevas?"

"Shh," Dean soothed, not wanting me to get worked up. "Dad had to leave, it was too dangerous for us to be with him right now. The demons would have used us against him." Sadness sparked in my gut at that. He was gone, who knows when, or if, we'd see him again.

"And don't worry about the Daevas," Sam murmured. "They're gone now."

A knock sounded at the doorway and a young female doctor walked in. "You're awake, that's great," she said, walking over beside the bed. Sam and Dean moved back to give her some room. "How are you feeling, Lexi?"

"Tired," I admitted, "and a little sore."

"How would you rate your pain, on a scale of 1 - 10?" she asked, moving closer to inspect my IV drip.

"A four," I answered. The ache was dull, but it was intense.

"I'll have a nurse come adjust your drip and we'll get you something for the pain," she answered. "Now, can you remember what happened?"

I remembered everything, but I wasn't sure what Dean and Sam told the doctor, so I lied. "Not really, it's all kind of fuzzy."

"That's normal," she smiled kindly at me. "You and your brothers got attacked by a couple wild dogs three days ago. You're lucky they were there, or it could have been a lot worse for you. If your brothers hadn't stemmed the bleeding, you would have had to have a blood transfusion."

I shifted the hospital blanket down and noticed that I had no shirt on, but was wrapped up in thick white bandages. "Will they scar?" I asked quietly. I heard Dean grit his teeth next to me.

"Unfortunately," the doctor admitted. "They will fade over time, but you will probably always have them. I'm sorry."

I shrugged at that, trying to pretend it didn't bother me. I hadn't seen the scratches yet, so hopefully it wasn't as bad as my mind was making it out to be.

"We have you on a strict regimen of antibiotics, so that should keep away any infection," she added.

"When am I free to go?" I asked. I hated hospitals, and my mind couldn't help but wander back to when we had found out Dean was going to die, before we found the 'faith healer'.

The doctor flipped through her charts. "I'd say you'll be good to go tomorrow, as long as everything goes over smoothly. I'll have to show your brothers how to change your bandages, because you'll need help re-wrapping them."

I blushed at that, shifting uncomfortably. I was still a kid, but the idea of anybody seeing me topless was unpleasant. The doctor smiled softly at me. "Well, they need to be changed now that you're awake. Would you rather just one of your brothers learn to do it?"

I looked up at my brothers tired and concerned expressions, and knew that I couldn't pick between them, asking help from only one. "No, I want them both to stay," I answered, looking back at the doctor.

"Alright, let's get you sitting up," she said, moving over to help me. She never made it over, when Sam and Dean were already gently hoisting me up to a sitting position. The doctor smiled. She grabbed a stool and moved to sit right in front of me. "So, we'll start by removing the clips."

She plucked the clips quickly from the sides of the wrap, and then moved to unwind the wrap. It throbbed a bit when the pressure was released, and I watched as she removed the slightly bloodied fabric. Looking down and my chest, my stomach dropped and my face turned pale. From collarbone to the bottom of my sternum, were three massive scratches, each shut by an intricate line of stitches. The skin was purple and angry looking, and dried blood lined the sides of them. I felt lightheaded as I looked at them, and I squeezed my eyes shut.

"It's ok Lexi," the doctor murmured, grabbing some of her wound cleaning supplies. "It looks a lot worse than it is. They're not deep, just long."

"Just breathe, sweetheart," Dean encouraged gently, looking like he wanted to hug me, but knew that the doctor needed her space to work.

She showed them how to clean the wound carefully, and Sam grabbed my hand when I winced at the sting. By the time she re-wrapped it, I felt exhausted, and all but collapsed back onto the bed. "You get some rest," the doctor said. "I'll have a nurse come give you some painkillers."

Once she was gone, I turned to look up at my brothers. "You guys should go get some sleep, in a real bed," I murmured. If I'd been here for over two days, then they obviously hadn't slept in that time other than in a chair.

They both looked offended. "We're not going anywhere," Sam said, running his hand down my arm gently.

"You get some rest, we'll still be here when you wake up," Dean murmured, taking a seat next to my bed.

"Thanks," I replied, cuddling down under the blankets. "Love you guys."

"Love you too, sweetheart," Dean said.

xxx

The next day I was released from the hospital, with strict orders to be on bed rest for another week, before I could start doing light activity. They had given me a bag full of new bandages, and cleaning supplies that would last until the scratches were healed enough. After three weeks, I was supposed to come back to get the stitches removed, but Dean assured me that he would be able to remove them himself; not that the doctors needed to know that.

We were in the Impala, driving to the neighboring state. I was going to be dropped off at Bobby Singer's house, a friend of Dad's who I had met a few times when I lived with my mom. At first, I was upset when Dean and Sam told me that they'd be leaving me there, but I knew it was just temporary until I healed up. Travelling in the car for even this long, a couple of hours so far, was already painful, and I shifted uncomfortably.

"Are you alright, honey?" Sam asked, turning his head to look at me in the backseat.

I looked up at him, and smiled. "Yeah, just a little sore," I admitted.

Sam's eyes looked pained as he reached forward into his backpack and grabbed a couple Ibuprofen pills from a bottle, and passed them back to me with a water bottle. "Take these," he murmured. I accepted them gratefully, and quickly downed them. I noticed Dean looking at me through the rear-view mirror, but as soon as our eyes locked, he looked away. I thought I had seen guilt flash through his eyes in the split second, but I wasn't sure.

I had heard my brothers speaking in the hospital room, and I knew both of them felt responsible for me getting injured. They had known it was a dangerous case, and that they shouldn't have let their guards down. I wish they wouldn't shoulder the burden of my injuries. Everyone got hurt, I just got it a little worse; probably because I was so much smaller. It was all just a part of the job.

We got to Bobby's after a long day of fast travel. Dean was pushing the speed limit the whole way, and I knew it was because he was concerned I was in pain from having to sit up in the backseat. Bobby came down to greet us as we pulled up, and I smiled widely when he helped me out of the car and hugged me gently. "Good to see ya, kiddo," he grinned.

"Hey Bobby," I greeted, as Sam and Dean climbed out of the Impala.

"Hey boys," Bobby said, hugging each of them quickly. He grabbed my bags from the trunk, and went to carry them inside. Dean gently grabbed my arm and helped me into the house and to the first ground floor bedroom, where Bobby was placing my bags.

"This was always our room when Sam and I stayed here," he said. I looked around the room. It was spacious, with two twin beds on either side of the room. There was a nightstand beside the one with a pink duvet, and I smiled at Bobby's thoughtfulness. On the opposite wall was a television, and there was a stack of books on a shelf over the bed.

"Wow," I grinned widely, as Dean guided me over and onto the bed. Being on bed rest was going to be difficult for me, but if I stayed in bed, I'd be able to get back hunting soon. Once I was propped up against the fluffy pillows comfortably, Dean sat down on the bed, facing me with a serious expression.

"Sweetheart," he murmured, "are you going to be alright if Sam and I leave you here until you're better? We found a case in Richardson, Texas, and we'll be gone for a while. If you'd like, we can stay here for a couple days until you're settled..."

I looked down at the pink duvet and ran my fingertips across it. I wanted nothing more than for my brothers to stay with me, but I knew it wasn't fair of me to ask that of them. Their job was an important one, and lives were always at stake. Them taking time off could result in more preventable deaths. "No, I'll be okay with Bobby. You guys go and kick some monster butt," I said lightly, hoping to appear like I wanted them to go.

Dean lifted my chin gently and the second I met his green eyes, tears welled. "Oh, sweetheart, no tears," he chastised softly. "We don't want to leave you here, and we don't have too."

I knew it would kill him and Sam to stay cooped up for a couple of weeks or longer, so I shook my head. He gently wiped away a tear that slipped down my cheek. "No. You have to go. Lives are at stake, and there's always a phone. Just promise you'll be safe, and you'll both come back."

"Don't worry, ain't no ghost or spirit we can't handle," he replied with a smile. I returned the smile weakly, and then Sam poked his head it.

"Hey Lexi," he said, coming around the corner and walking slowly into the room, one of his arms behind his back. "Everything ok?"

"Yeah," I said, looking up at him. "Just gonna miss you guys."

Sam's eyes flashed with hurt as he stepped forward and gently wrapped me in a one arm hug. He planted a kiss on the top of my head. "We're going to miss you too, honey," he whispered. "But we'll be back before you know it."

Suddenly, he moved his other hand forward and something soft, brown and fuzzy landed in my lap. Looking down, I smiled when I saw a stuffed bear with a pink bow by her ear in front of me. "We got it for you while you were in the hospital," Dean explained.

Reaching down, I grabbed it and hugged it to my chest. "Thank you," I smiled up at them. I'd never received a new toy from anyone before, and I loved it.

"Well, we've gotta hit the road now," Sam said sadly, looking like he would rather have a tooth pulled than walk out that door.

"Ok," I mumbled, mood dampened. He hugged me gently once more, before Dean wrapped me in his arms.

"We'll be back soon," Dean said. "We'll call you every night before you go to bed."

I nodded. "You better. I love you guys," I murmured.

"Love you too," Sam and Dean said at the same time, making me grin. With a final wave they left the room. The minute I heard the front door shut behind them, the tears began to fall and I buried my face in my hands, ignoring the pull on my stitches as I hunched forward.

xxx

Bobby and I got along well, and the first couple of days went smoothly. I spent most of my time reading or watching old movies on the television. We would eat meals together in my room, and he would tell me stories about Sam and Dean when they were younger. It was nice, but I really missed my brothers.

They were true to their word, and called every night, and we talked for over an hour, but after I hung up, things were worse. It was difficult to sleep. I was so used to the security of their presence in the motel room, always close if I needed them. Here, I was alone during the nights, and my sleep was often plagued with nightmares about losing them. It was hard when I would wake up and not be able to confirm right away if they were alright.

They were hunting a spirit they claimed was named Mordachai Murdoch, a rather extravagant name in my opinion, that sounded fake. They wouldn't give me much of the details, saying that I didn't need to worry about the case, and instead should focus on healing. I rolled my eyes, but didn't push for any information. A part of me worried that if I ticked them off, they wouldn't come back. I felt bad that I still didn't trust them enough not to leave me, but I couldn't understand why they would want to haul around a nine-year-old kid.

After a week had passed, I was finally allowed to walk around. The scratches had healed incredibly fast, and Bobby had been able to remove the stitches a lot earlier than planned. He gave the credit to this incredible salve he'd applied to them twice a day. Walking was hard, I'd lost some muscle tone from being on bed rest, but I was young, and I knew I'd gain it back quickly.

I stepped outside, for the first time since I'd arrived, and almost moaned when the sun hit my face. It was so nice, the gentle warmth it cast down in the early morning. I sat down on the patio chair out front, and basked in the sun. It felt so good after being cooped up for the last week. Last night, Sam and Dean had said over the phone that they'd kill the spirit, which had actually been conjured by fans who believed in it, and would be coming to get me in a couple of days. I was so happy when they told me, giddy with the excitement.

The sound of footsteps approached from behind me, and I smiled up at Bobby as he came to sit in the rocking chair next to me, overlooking the scrapyard. "I heard the boys are coming back in two days," he said.

"Yeah," I replied, a small smile gracing my features. "I miss them so much. I can't wait for them to come back."

"You're always welcome back, kid," he looked at me when he said it. "I know it's hard to be on the road for so long, so you're always allowed to come here if you need a break. It's been great having the company."

"Aww, uncle Bobby," I smiled, and he looked away. I noticed a blush on his cheeks, and I laughed softly. "I'll try to drag Dean and Sam over more often. It'd be great to have a real home to stay in every once in a while. Thanks for letting me stay."

"Anytime," he replied. We stayed sitting in silence for the rest of the morning.


	13. Something Wicked

Chapter 12: Something Wicked

The following morning, I woke up to the sound of a familiar engine outside moving close to the house. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I realized that the engine sounded like the Impala, but it couldn't be! They weren't supposed to be here until tomorrow. Not wanting to get my hopes too high, I slowly pulled back the curtains and squealed loudly when I saw my brothers pulling up out front.

"Bobby!" I screamed happily. "They're here! Sam and Dean are here!" Not even bothering with shoes, I booked out the front door. They're smiling faces were the first things I saw when they climbed out of the black car, and I flung myself at Dean who was in front. Inhaling the familiar scent of him, I squeezed him around the waist tightly. He hugged me back fiercely, but was still mindful off my healing wounds.

"Hey, sweetheart," he ruffled my messy bed-head affectionately. "Missed me, didn't ya?"

I chuckled, as I released his waist and moved to hug Sam. "I missed you both, so much!" I squealed into Sam's stomach as we hugged. It felt so good to be back in their arms, feeling so protected and loved. Neither looked hurt, and that made my smile even wider.

Bobby came outside as I let go of Sam. "Good to see you boys in one piece," he greeted. "Successful hunt?"

"A weird one, that's for sure," Dean scoffed. "How was this little monster?"

"A perfect angel. Bring her by anytime," Bobby smiled. "It was good having her around."

Sam grabbed my hand as we moved inside, Dean describing to Bobby how the hunt went. It was weird to think that a mass amount of people could actually create a spirit, and decide what it was going to do next or what its weaknesses were. We moved to sit on the couches, and I sat curled into Sam's hip, listening while Dean spoke.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Sam suddenly spoke up. He reached into his pocket and passed me a small wrapped box, with a big purple bow on top. "I know we forgot your birthday. We tend to forget our own most times, but here's a belated birthday gift."

I took it from him in awe. "You didn't need to get me anything," I said quietly, looking at the box in my hands.

"'Course we did," Dean commented. "Just open it."

Slowly peeling back the gift paper to reveal a blue gift box, I opened the lid and my jaw dropped. Inside was an Ipod with headphones. "Wow! Thank you," I looked up at both of them with a radiant smile that showed off my rarely-seen dimples.

They smiled back, happy that I loved the gift. "I've already downloaded a bunch of songs," Sam said. "I can show you how to add more if you ever want some more on there."

Reaching down, I put the headphones over my head and turned on the Ipod. I put on the first song, and smiled when Daughtry's _It's Not Over_ started playing. I scrolled through the list of songs, and noticed Nickelback, Three Days Grace, Shinedown, AC/DC, Ozzy Osbourne, and Linkin Park. I didn't know most of the songs, but I knew that after a couple times each I'd have all of them known by heart.

While the guys spoke, I headed into the kitchen to get some breakfast for everybody. I loaded the toaster with bread, while I began to slice up some fruit at the counter top. A wide grin lit up my face when Shinedown's _45_ came on. Mom used to play the radio while I was training, and this was one of my favorites. As I was cutting through an apple, I began to sing softly to the words.

" _Whatever happened to the young man's heart, swallowed by pain, as he slowly fell apart_ ," I sung. " _And I'm staring down the barrel of a 45, swimming through the ashes of another life. No real reason to accept the way things have changed, staring down the barrel of a 45._ "

" _Send a message to the unborn child, keep your eyes open for a while. In a box, high upon the shelf, left for you, no one else. There's a piece of a puzzle known as life, wrapped in guilt, sealed up tight._ "

Realizing I was singing rather loudly, I flushed and took the headphones off. The other room had gone quiet, and I turned even redder when I realized they were listening to me. Shaking my head, I stacked up the toast onto four different plates, and placed a portion of fruit onto each plate. Walking into the room, I handed a plate to each of the men, before sitting down with my own. They each thanked me and dug in.

"You can really sing, Lexi," Sam said with a smile.

I blushed deeply, and looked down at my plate. "You weren't supposed to hear," I mumbled into my toast.

"Sounds a lot better than Sammy's singing," Dean chuckled, as he popped an apple slice into his mouth. I knew he didn't necessarily like eating healthy, but he wouldn't complain when I gave him healthy food. "I could listen to you all day, unlike Sam who makes me want to rip out my eardrums."

"Hey, I'm not that bad," Sam scowled.

Bobby let out a guffaw, and I chuckled at his expression. "Boy, your singing could be used as another method to exorcise demons." Dean and I burst out laughing at Sam's put out expression.

The sound of Dean's phone going off interrupted our laughter. Reaching down, he opened up the phone and his face grew serious. "What is it?" Sam asked instantly.

"It's dad," he said. "He's sent us another job."

xxx

"You probably missed something, that's what," Dean snapped from the driver's seat of the Impala. We had left Bobby's quickly, and hit the road without much more than a wave goodbye.

"Dude, I ran LexisNexis, local police reports, newspapers, I couldn't find a single red flag," Sam said, looking at Dean. "Are you sure you got the coordinates right?"

"Yeah, I double checked," Dean answered. "It's Fitchburg, Wisconsin. Dad wouldn't have sent us coordinates if it wasn't important Sammy."

Sam was beginning to get frustrated. "Well, I'm telling you I looked and all I could find was a big steamy pile of nothing. If Dad's sending us hunting for something, I don't know what."

"Maybe it's something that hasn't been posted in the news," I piped up from the backseat. Dad was always able to find hunts in the most normal of places, so perhaps this was one of those hunts. "Something normal, that wouldn't normally raise red flags."

"Maybe..." Dean sighed. "Maybe he's going to meet us there."

"Yeah, 'cause he's been so easy to find up to this point," Sam replied sarcastically. I really wished that Dad would be there, since I didn't get to say goodbye last time; but I knew it was unlikely he'd come help us hunt whatever this thing was.

"You're a real smart ass, you know that?" Dean snapped, as he shook his head. "Don't worry, I'm sure there's something in Fitchburg worth killing."

"Yeah? What makes you so sure?"

"Cause I'm the oldest, which means I'm always right," Dean replied with a smirk. I guffawed from the backseat.

"No, it doesn't," Sam argued.

"It totally does."

xxx

After arriving to Fitchburg, Dean had gone into the Glasow's Diner to speak with the locals. Sam and I were leaning against the Impala, waiting for him to come back out. "Well," Dean said, coming through the front doors and walking over to us. "The waitress thinks the local freemasons are up to something sneaky but other than that, no one's heard about anything freaky going on."

"Dean, you got the time?" Sam asked. I looked up at him curiously.

"Ten after four," Dean answered, looking at his watch. "Why?"

Sam looked straight ahead, and I averted my gaze to see what he was looking at. "What's wrong with this picture?"

In front of us was a playground, backed by a large brick building, which I assumed was a school. There was only one child, a young brown-haired girl playing on the equipment. "School's out, isn't it?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, so where is everybody? This place should be crawling with kids right now," Sam replied. I looked around. There wasn't another kid in sight.

Dean reached down and grabbed my hand. "Come on, Lexi," he grinned. He pulled me over to a woman wearing a light blue raincoat, who was sitting on the park bench, reading a magazine. Dean looked down at her. "Sure is quiet out here."

The woman looked up at Dean. "Yeah, it's a shame," she said. The woman gave me a smile, which I returned. I glanced over at her daughter, who was climbing a yellow piece of playground equipment. The kid looked only a year or two younger than myself, and I found myself envying her the ability to play. I never got to play when I was younger.

"Why's that?" Dean asked.

"You know, kids getting sick. It's a terrible thing," she replied, looking out at her own daughter.

"How many?"

"Just five or six, but serious. Hospital serious. A lot of parents are getting pretty anxious; they think it's catching." I shuddered at that. If something was infecting kids, it was more likely a spirit or monster preying on the children.

xxx

Our next stop was the hospital, but because they were going in on investigation, I had to stay in the car. They were gone for almost an hour, before they came back to the Impala looking grim. "What did you find out?" I asked them.

"The kids are all unconscious, their bodies are wearing out on them," Sam replied. They described to me about the woman with the cross, and told me what the doctor had told them. They told me about how the windows had been open when the parents had found their unconscious children.

"We're going to go check out the guys' house," Dean said, as he turned the Impala onto the road. "Lexi, if this thing is preying on children, it might be safer if you sit this one out."

My brows furrowed as I looked at Dean's worried expression in the rear-view mirror. "No way!" I argued, crossing my arms. "If this thing is coming after children, then I'm safer with both of you guys. You're not leaving me anywhere."

"She makes a fair point Dean," Sam said, looking over at the older brother. "She's safer with us than anywhere else."

Dean grunted in acknowledgment, but said no more. We pulled up out front of a large house a few minutes later, and we quickly crawled in through a window.

Dean and Sam pulled out their EMF readers, and began checking the kid's room. "You got anything over there?" Sam asked.

"Nah, nothing," Dean replied.

"Yeah, me neither," Sam sighed.

I was standing by the window, keeping watch for anybody showing up. Glancing down at the windowsill, I froze. "Guys," I murmured. "Look."

They quickly walked over, and their brows lifted at the handprint rotted into the wood of the windowsill. "It's rotted," Sam said quietly. "What the hell leaves a handprint like that?"

Dean's face turned pensive, and I noticed his face turning a little pale. "I know why Dad sent us here," Dean admitted. "He's faced this thing before. He wants us to finish the job."

xxx

We drove to a motel, Dean explaining to us that it was a Shtriga. "So what the hell is it, anyways?" Sam asked.

"It's... kinda like a witch, I think. I don't know much about 'em," Dean replied, as we climbed out of the Impala.

"Well, I've never heard of it. And it's not in Dad's journal," Sam said, shutting the Impala doors. I had heard of them. Mom had spoken about them briefly in one of my lessons.

"Dad hunted one in Fort Douglas, Wisconsin, about 16, 17 years ago. You were there. You don't remember?" Dean lifted the trunk of the Impala and pulled out our bags.

"No."

"And I guess he caught wind of the things in Fitzburg now, and kicked us the coordinates."

"So wait, this Shtriga, you think it's the same one Dad hunted before?" Sam sounded surprised.

"Yeah, maybe," Dean answered. He looked really tense, and I could tell there was more to this Shtriga story.

"If dad hunted it, why is it still alive?" I asked, taking my bags from Dean.

"Cause it got away."

"Got away?" Sam sounded shocked.

"Yeah, Sammy, it happens," Dean replied, agitated. They snapped back and forth a bit until we got to the front reception desk. A boy around the age of 10 came from the back room, where a younger boy was sitting watching TV.

"A king and a cot?" the boy asked, looking at Sam and Dean curiously.

Dean glanced back at Sam. "Two queens," he replied.

The boy snickered. "Yeah, I'll bet."

"What'd you say?" Dean snapped.

The boy just smiled. "Nice car!"

A woman entered, smiling at us. "Hi," she said. "Checking in?"

"Yeah," Dean answered.

The woman looked down at the boy. "Ahh, do me a favor, and go get your brother some dinner."

"I'm helping a guest!" the boy retorted. She gave him a stern look, and he grimaced before turning around and moving towards his brother.

"Two queens," the boy said, emphasizing the word "queens" as he walked away. I chuckled lightly.

Dean let out a fake laugh. "Funny kid."

"Oh, yeah. He thinks so," she sighed. "Will that be cash or credit?"

"You take MasterCard?" She nodded. "Perfect. Here you go."

As she processed it, I noticed Dean get lost in thought, only to be jolted out of it when the lady held out his card. "Sir?"

"Thanks," he smirked.

xxx

In the Motel room, Sam was on the laptop, while I was listening to some songs on my Ipod. "Well, you were right," Sam smirked at the idea of Dean being right. I pulled my headphones off to listen. "It wasn't easy to find, but you were right. Shtriga is a kind of witch. They're Albanian, but legends about them trace back to Ancient Rome. They feed off Spiritus Vitae."

"Spiri-what?" Dean asked, drinking from a cup of coffee.

"Vitae. It's Latin," Sam explained. "Translates to 'breath of life.' Kinda like your life force or essence."

"Didn't the doctor say the kids' bodies were wearing out?" Dean asked, writing something down on a sheet of paper.

"It's a thought, you know, she takes your vitality, maybe your immunity goes to hell and pneumonia takes hold. Anyway, shtrigas can feed off anyone, but they prefer..."

"Children," Dean answered, looking up. I shuddered. A monster that preferred the taste of children's life force. Nasty.

"Yeah, probably because they have stronger life force. And get this. Shtrigas are '... invulnerable to all weapons devised by God and man.'"

"No, that's not right," Dean answered, walking over towards his bag on my bed. "She's vulnerable when she feeds."

"What?" Sam asked.

Dean pulled out a journal. "If you catch her when she's eating, you can blast her with consecrated wrought iron. Ahh... buckshots or rounds I think."

"How do you know that?" Sam asked.

"Dad told me. I remember." There was something seriously bothering him about this case, but I didn't speak up, not wanting to pry. If there was something he was hiding, he probably had a good reason for it.

"Oh. Huh. So uh, anything else Dad might have mentioned?"

"Nope, that's it," Dean replied. Sam kept staring at Dean, and I knew that he had figured out that Dean was hiding something. "What?"

"Nothing, okay. So, assuming we can kill it when it eats, we still gotta find the thing first, which ain't gonna be a cakewalk. Shtrigas take on a human disguise when they're not hunting."

"What kind of disguise?" I asked.

"Historically, something innocuous. Could be anything, but it's usually a feeble old woman, which might be how the witches as old crones legend got started."

"Hang on," Dean said, crossing the room. He pulled out a map that he'd been writing on. "Check this out. I marked down all the addresses of the victims. Now these are the houses that have been hit so far, and dead center?"

"The hospital," Sam realized.

"You mentioned the old woman," I said to Dean. "Could it be her?"

"An old woman, in a hospital. Phew. Better call the Coast Guard," Sam snickered. I looked at him confused.

"We're going to have to go check out the hospital," Dean said. He turned to me. "Lexi, you're going to have to stay here until we get back. We won't be long."

I shivered inwardly at the idea of being alone while there was a child-life-force-stealing witch on the loose, but I didn't want to look needy or weak, so I nodded. "Alright," I answered.

He grabbed a loaded gun and placed it in front of me on the bed. "Shoot first, ask questions later," he smirked, ruffling my hair.

xxx

Once they were gone, I laid out my salt line and crawled into bed, my loaded gun sitting in reach on the nightstand. I left the lamp on, suddenly feeling jeuvenile with a fear of the dark. I really didn't like being alone at night, and it was ten times worse with the Shtriga out and about.

Almost as soon as I thought about the monster, I heard something scrape against the window, and I nearly jumped out of my skin in terror. Chastising myself, I tried to assure myself that it was just the wind and steadied out my breathing.

A shadow passed across the window, and I felt hysteria beginning to crawl up my throat when I heard the lock on the window opened. Grabbing my cell, I opened up Sam's name and typed a quick text: _It's here_ and sent it just as the salt line blew away from the now open window. Steeling myself, I raised the gun and went to fire it, when suddenly I felt cold. It entered the room silently, and I trembled in fear at the cloaked figure. I couldn't see its face, but it moved closer to me.

I tried to shoot it, but for some reason I couldn't move my body. My fingers were locked on the trigger as the thing came to loom over me. Its mouth opened, and I felt my body grow impossibly colder as the room went black. The last thing I heard was the sound of my phone ringing from where I'd dropped in next to me.

 **Cut to Sam and Dean's Perspective**

"She's not answering," Sam exclaimed, as Dean was driving twice the speed limit through town. His brows were clenched in a worried and angry expression.

"Damn it," Dean cussed, his knuckles white from his tight grip on the steering wheel. A string of curse words that put sailors to shame left his lips as they pulled up out front of their motel room and saw the window open.

They all but flew out of the Impala and burst through the motel room, deflating when they saw the unconscious, barely breathing body of their sister lying on the bed, the loaded rifle still held in her hands. "Lexi," Sam breathed out, tears pricking in his eyes. Dean cussed and slammed his fist into the wall as Sam moved closer to their sister. He reached down and checked for a pulse, breathing a sigh of relief when he found one. "We've got to get her to the hospital, it's our best chance."

Dean squeezed his eyes shut, yelling at himself internally. He'd damn near lost Sam to this monster 16 years ago, and now he made the same mistake again. He'd left his little sister all but defenseless, and now she was one of this thing's victims.

Sam scooped up his sister gently, squeezing her tighter when he noticed how cold she felt. His heart broke at how small and frail she appeared, and he cursed himself for leaving her on her own. They drove quickly to the hospital.

"Help us," Sam said to the emergency nurse. "Please, this is my sister. I brought her with us on the trip, and I think she's got the bug too."

Nurses and doctors immediately came forth and took Lexi, wheeling her away on a cart. The brothers couldn't help but think that their sister had just gotten out of a hosptial, and here she was back in another one. Off to the side, they noticed the younger brother of the boy from earlier being wheeled in on a gurney as well. The shtriga had attacked both of them.

 **Back to Lexi's Perspective - Dreams**

I knew I was dreaming. I was sitting in a green field, yellow flowers blooming all around me. The sun was casting a warm glow over me, and I lay back, looking up at the small white clouds dotting the sky. It was so peaceful, and that's how I knew it was a dream.

"Alexandra," a woman's voice said from somewhere to my right. Jolting at the familiarity in the tone, I looked over. I felt tears prick my eyes when I saw my mom, standing a few feet away, smiling at me gently.

She looked the same. Her long brown hair braided over her shoulder in a tight fashion. Her eyes, a warm brown, framed by a few wrinkles beside them. She was dressed in a blue sundress, and I couldn't help the smile that grew on my face at the sight of her. As rocky as our relationship had been, I still loved her.

"Mom," I whispered, standing up. I stood perfectly still, almost scared that she would disappear if I moved. This was a dream, but something about it felt so real. Her arms suddenly opened up, and I launched into them, hugging her. That was something we'd done so rarely when she was alive, we almost never hugged. I relished in the feeling of her, and she even smelled like she used too.

"You've grown," she said, pulling back to look down at me. "You're turning into a hunter."

I stepped back and looked up. "I'm trying, but I'm not brave enough. I still get scared."

Her face turned sad. "Everybody gets scared. I know for a fact that your brothers are terrified right now. They're fighting to save you."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I'm always watching over you," she replied, reaching up to brush my hair back. "The only reason I can talk with you right now is your life force is so weak. You're brushing with death, but your brothers will save you. I know it."

I gulped. I was so close to death that I was able to see my mom? I shuddered. "Are they alright?"

She chuckled. "They'll be fine, once you're back with them." She let out a long sigh. "Alexandra, I need to apologize. Death has given me an opportunity to reflect on my life, and I have to admit that I was cruel to you. I thought the only way to turn you into a good hunter was to train you to be a cold, ruthless being. Yet you never conformed. You always had so much emotion, so much love to give. I'm sorry for trying to push that side of you away. It is what will make you a great hunter."

I nodded at her, but said nothing. I couldn't forgive her just yet. She had treated me so poorly for the entirety of my young life, and that was not something I could just forget. As if she knew what I was thinking, she nodded at me and smiled a sad smile.

"Alexandra," another feminine voice said. This one was unfamiliar, and I turned to look behind me. I froze when I saw Mary, Sam and Dean's mother. "Hi sweetheart."

I took a step towards her, and she moved forward to give me a gentle hug. "Thank you for taking care of my boys," she smiled.

She was a really beautiful woman, and I knew immediately where Sam and Dean got their looks from. Her blonde hair sparkled in the sunlight, and she resembled an angel in my opinion. "They miss you," I whispered.

Her face looked pained for a moment, before it relaxed. "I miss them myself, but I know they have an important job to do. I'll be with them again one day, but for now, I'm happy knowing they have you."

I smiled up at her, before I felt a funny feeling spark inside me. The world started to spin, and I felt like I was falling, before I gasped and sat up.

xxx

Sitting up in a rush, I inhaled sharply. "Easy honey," a woman's voice said from beside me. Looking next to me, I saw a nurse who was checking my vitals on the monitors. "How are you feeling?"

I looked around, but Sam and Dean were nowhere to be seen. "I feel fine," I replied, brushing my hair back. The doctor came in a moment later, and I was asked a bunch of questions, and they did a few tests, but everything came back saying I was fine.

"You were incredibly lucky," the doctor said kindly. "The bug must have just brushed over you."

I knew it was because Sam and Dean had killed the Shtriga so quickly. It hadn't had the time to feed off of a lot of my life force. As soon as that thought passed through me, I heard the sound of loud footsteps running down the hall. Looking up, I gave a radiant smile when I saw my brothers stop in the doorway of the room. They looked at me in shock and relief, and I stood up from the bed.

Instantly, they both rushed forward and we met in a firm group hug. "Thank god," Dean breathed in my ear.

"How are you feeling?" Sam murmured.

"Perfect," I answered, nuzzling my face into their necks.


	14. Provenance

Chapter 13: Provenance

We were sitting in a dark, poorly lit bar. Again, I had been only allowed in when Dean had sweet talked one of the bartenders, and I was now sitting with Sam at a table. He was currently looking at papers in front of him, while Dean was over sweet talking a blonde woman. I could see him keying a phone number into his cell, and I rolled my eyes.

After a few minutes, he walked back over to us, carrying two beers and a sprite for me. "All right," Sam said to Dean. "I think we got something."

Dean glanced back at the woman. "Oh yeah, met too," he smirked, before turning back to Sam. "I think we need to take a little shore leave, just a little bit. What do you think, huh? I'm so in the door with this one."

"So, what are we today Dean? I mean, are we rock stars, are we army rangers?" Sam asked, a bit of sarcasm entering his tone.

"Reality TV scouts, looking for people with special skills," Dean grinned. "I mean, hey, it's not that far off, right? By the way, she's got a friend over there. Possibly hook you up. What do you think?"

"Dean, no thanks, I can get my own dates," Sam sighed.

"Yeah you can, but you don't."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh," I snapped, taking a dramatic sip from my sprite when they looked at me. "Give it up you two! What do you have, Sam?"

Sam looked at me in surprise, before glancing down at his papers. "Mark and Ann Telesca of New Paltz, New York were both found dead in their own home, a few days ago. Throats were slit. There were no prints, no murder weapons, all..."

When Sam stopped, I followed his agitated gaze to see Dean was distracted, and checking out the multiple women in the bar. "Dean!" Sam snapped. Dean's eyes turned to lock on Sam's, and I noticed the slight smirk that lifted at the corner of his lips. "No print, no murder weapons, all doors and windows locked from the inside."

Dean took a drink from his beer. "Could just be a garden variety murder you know, not our department." I could tell that Dean was hopeful we didn't need to leave right away. He really wanted to hook up with the blonde.

"No, Dad says different," Sam murmured.

At that, Dean gave him a curious look. "What do you mean?"

Sam pointed to a map, that Dean and I averted our gazes too. "Dad noted three murders in the same area of upstate New York. First one here in 1912, second one right here in 1945, and the third in 1970, the same M.O. as the Telescas. Their throats were slit, doors were locked from the inside. Now so much time has passed between murders that nobody checked the pattern, except Dad. He kept his eyes peeled for another one."

"And now we got one," Dean stated, looking down at the map. "Alright, I'm with ya. It's worth checking out. We can't pick this up 'til first thing though, right?"

"Yeah," Sam sighed. He knew exactly what Dean had in mind.

Turning back to the bar, I could hear the smile in Dean's voice as he said "good." As he got closer to the girls, his voice grew louder. "Ladies... did you miss me?"

"Well yeah," the blonde said, tossing her hair over her shoulder and moving closer to Dean. I rolled my eyes and held back a gag in disgust.

"I'm just kidding. Listen, I talked to my producer, and it is looking good."

"Great, cool," she grinned. I heard Sam snigger beside me, and I reached forward to take another sip from my sprite.

xxx

Sam and I were walking back from the Telescas, and Sam motioned for me to be quiet when he saw Dean slouched in the passenger seat, sunglasses over his eyes. Tiptoeing to the other side, Sam leaned in through the window and honked the horn. Dean leapt up in his seat in fright, while Sam and I nearly collapsed from laughter.

We were still laughing as we climbed in, Dean sending nasty glares to Sam. He adjusted his sunglasses, mumbling. "Man, that is so not cool."

"I just swept the Telescas with EMF. It's clean. And last night, while you were... well... out." Sam trailed off awkwardly.

A smirk graced Dean's features. "Good times."

"I check the history of the house. Nothing strange about the Telescas," Sam states.

"Alright, so if it's not the people and it's not the house, then maybe it's the contents. Cursed object or something."

"The house is clean," Sam said.

"Yeah, I know, you said that."

"No, it's empty," I said. "There's no furniture or anything."

Dean looked confused. "Where's all their stuff?"

xxx

We tracked down the belongings to an auction house, old and run down like a lot of the town. Inside, we wandered around trying to blend in, but our clothes didn't match the posh outfits of everyone else. I knew we were sticking out like a sore thumb, especially while Dean was swiping finger foods from a polished tray.

A man noticed us and was beginning to approach, when Dean turned to Sam. "Consignment auctions, estate sales. Looks like a garage sale for Wasps if you ask me," his voice came out muffled around the food in his mouth.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" the man said to my brothers, not even so much as looking at me. I huffed and crossed my arms, which Sam noticed. He smirked and winked at me.

"I'd like some champagne, please," Dean requested in a fake accented voice.

"Dean, he's not a waiter," Sam snapped sharply, to our older brother. I felt embarrassed at Dean's mistake, and I restrained myself from slapping my forehead in disbelief.

"I'm Sam Connors," Sam politely said to the man. "That's my brother, Dean, and this is our sister, Alexandra. We're art dealers, with Connor Limited, taking our sister on a work day."

I was impressed by Sam's lie, and how flawlessly he took on the part. "You. Are... art dealers," the man mused, disbelief in his voice.

"That's right," Sam nodded.

"I'm Daniel Blake," he said. "This is my auction house. Now gentlemen, this is a private showing, and I don't remember seeing you on the guest list."

"We're there, chuckles," Dean replied, albeit rudely. "You just need to take another look."

A waiter passed by carrying a tray, which Dean quickly snatched. "Oh, finally," Dean grinned. He turned back to Daniel, and raised the glass to his nose. He sniffed it, raised his eyebrows and turned to walk away.

"Cheers," Sam said to Daniel, before grabbing my hand and tugging me after Dean. I chuckled at the dirty looks Sam was sending Dean.

We looked around at all the items, but we were all drawn to a painting of the family. "A fine example of American Primitive, wouldn't you say," a woman coming down the spiral staircase said. I looked over at the same time as my brothers, and noticed she was a sleek, impressive looking young woman, wearing a black dress. Sam turned to look back at the painting, while Dean was ogling, and he then proceeded to slap Sam on the back while continuing to stare.

"Well, I'd say it's more Grant Wood than Grandma Moses. But you knew that, you just wanted to see if I did," Sam replied. I was impressed, mostly because I had no idea what any of that meant.

"Guilty," the woman smiled sheepishly. "And clumsy. I apologize, I'm Sarah Blake."

"I'm Sam. This is my brother... Dean," when his voice trailed off, I looked over to see Dean continuing to eat from the trays and I rolled my eyes. "And this is our sister Alexandra."

Sarah looked at Dean in amusement. "Dean, can we get you some more mini-quiche?"

I noticed a red tinge appear over Dean's cheeks, and I smirked when I realised that he was blushing. "I'm good, thanks," he replied around his mouthful of food.

Sarah turned to Sam. "So, can I help you with something?"

"Yeah, actually. What can you tell us about the Telesca estate?"

"The whole thing's pretty grisly if you ask me, selling your things this soon," Sarah grimaced. "But Dad's right about one thing, sensationalism brings out the crowds. Even the rich ones."

"Is it possible to see the provenances?" Sam asked.

Daniel came up from behind us. "I'm afraid there isn't any chance of that."

"Why not?"

"You're not on the guest list, and I think it's time to leave," Daniel frowned at us. I stiffened. Busted.

"Well, we don't have to be told twice," Dean replied.

"Apparently you do," Daniel stated, looking like he wanted nothing more than for us to disappear.

"Okay. It's all right. We don't want any trouble. We'll go," Sam eased, ever the peacekeeper. Dean raised his eyebrows and walked off. I noticed Sam and Sarah exchange a look, before he and I followed after our older brother. I could catch Sarah chastising her father for treating us poorly, and I smiled. She was nice.

xxx

As we walked towards out hotel room, Dean looked at Sam incredulously. "Grant Wood, Grandma Moses?" Dean asked.

"Art history course," Sam explained. "It's good for meeting girls." I scoffed.

Dean unlocked the room door. "It's like I don't even know you."

We entered the room, and froze as we took in the room. It was a totally over the top retro 70s disco fantasy room, and I almost laughed as I took it all in. "Huh," we said, moving into the room to dump our bags.

"What's prov- prom- prova..." I stuttered, trying to find the word that Sam had used earlier.

"Provenance," Sam replied. "It's a certificate of origin, like a biography. You know we can use them to check the history of the pieces, see if any of them have a freaky past."

"Huh. Well, we're not getting anything out of chuckles, but Sarah..." Dean trailed off, a strange look appearing in his eyes as he thought about the pretty woman from earlier.

Sam smirked. "Yeah, maybe you can get her to write it all down on a cocktail napkin."

"Not me," Dean laughed.

"No, no, no. Pick-ups are your thing Dean," Sam raised his hands. I was so lost as to what this conversation was about. I looked between the two of them, the confusion written clearly on my face.

"It wasn't my butt she was checking out," Dean grinned.

"In other words, you want me to use her to get information."

"Sometimes you gotta take one for the team. Call her."

I moved to sit on one of the beds, and put my headphones down over my ears, uninterested in the turn this conversation had taken. Listening to the soothing music of Daughtry, I tuned out everything else.

xxx

Sam ended up going out for a meal with Sarah at a restaurant the next day. Dean wouldn't stop teasing Sam up until the point he left, and I had spent most of the morning chuckling at Sam's blushing face.

After a long hour of waiting, Sam returned to the motel room. He quickly dusted over the conversation they'd had, while Dean began to sharpen his blades. "So, she just handed the providences over to you," Dean sounded impressed, although I think he used that word wrong.

"Provenances," Sam corrected, and I chuckled, looking over his shoulder at the papers he was filtering through in his hands.

"Provenances?" Dean looked up, clearly waiting for Sam to elaborate on the subject.

"Yes, we went back to her place, I got a copy of the papers..." he trailed off.

"And?" Dean wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, and I smirked.

Sam's face turned down into a scowl. "And nothing. That's it. I left."

A disappointed look, with a trace of humor underneath, passed on Dean's face. "You didn't have to con her or do any... special favors or anything like that?"

"Dean, would you get your mind out of the gutter, please?"

"Special favors?" I asked curiously. "Like what?"

"Now look what you've done," Sam chastised. "Never mind, honey. Dean's just saying stupid stuff."

I shrugged my shoulders, while Dean gave me a sheepish look. He turned to look at Sam again, the smirk returning. "You know, when this whole thing's done, we could stick around for a little bit."

"Why?" Sam inquired, though he looked like he was scared of whatever answer Dean was going to give.

"So you could take her out again. It's obvious you're into her, even I could see that."

"Hey, I think I've got something here," Sam changed the subject, holding out the papers to Dean, who took them and quickly glanced them over.

"Portrait of Isaiah Merchant's family, painted 1910," Dean read.

"Now compare the names of the owners with Dad's journal," Sam suggested, moving Dad's journal across the table towards Dean.

Dean flipped through the journal. "First purchased in 1912, Peter Simms. Peter Simms murdered 1912. Same thing in 1945. Oh, same thing in 1970." So, a haunted portrait. That's a new one.

"Then stored, until it was donated to a charity auction last month. Where the Telescas bought it. So, what do you think, it's haunted? Or cursed?"

"Either way, it's toast," Dean said, standing up.

xxx

That evening, we went to slip by the auction house. Of course, there was another massive metal gate, that we were going to have to scale. "I hate these fences," I grumbled, watching in awe as Dean scaled the thing like he was climbing a few stairs and landed gracefully on the other side.

"Come on, I'll haul you over," Sam grinned, crouching down in front of me. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and then my legs around his waist as he stood up. "Hold on tight."

I squeezed my eyes shut as he hauled us up to the top of the gate, and then jumped down. I squealed when the feeling of falling made my stomach lurch, but then I felt Sam lithely hit the ground. Instead of stopping and letting me off, he took off running after Dean.

Dean put on a pair of gloves, and quickly disarmed the security alarm, before moving to pick the lock. Sam placed me on my feet, and we moved inside.

Taking our flashlights out, we began to look for the painting. All the antiques were still laid out on the tables. Dean shone his flashlight upwards, and we spotted the painting up above the spiral staircase. Dean darted up the stairs swiftly, and moved the flashlight to his mouth while he flicked open his switchblade to cut the painting from its frame. We were in and out in just a couple of minutes, and I was incredibly impressed with the ease of the break-and-enter.

Sam drove the Impala to an old, empty dirt road, where we placed the painting on the gravel. I watched as Dean took out a box of matches, and struck one. "Ugly ass thing. If you ask me, we're doing the art world a favor," he said, dropping the match. The painting burst into flames, and we watched as it turned to ash. For some reason, an odd feeling settled in my gut, telling me that it seemed way too easy.

xxx

The following morning, as I was braiding my damp hair back over my shoulder, still wet from my shower, Dean rushed out of the bathroom in a panic. "We got a problem - I can't find my wallet," he exclaimed.

"How is that my problem?" Sam asked, looking up from where he was packing his duffel bag.

"'Cause I think I dropped it in the warehouse last night," he snapped, pulling on his flannel shirt.

My stomach sank. "Seriously?" I asked. That was not good, we could end up getting busted.

"It's got my prints, my ID, well my fake ID anyway. We gotta get it before someone else finds it. Come on," Dean said, moving towards the door. Leaving everything behind, we scrambled into the Impala and drove back to the warehouse.

We sifted through the items quickly, looking everywhere for the wallet. "How do you lose your wallet, Dean?" Sam snapped, frustrated at the turn of events.

Dean tossed his hands up in the air and kept looking, not answering the question.

Footsteps approached, and I turned to see Sarah walking towards us. "Hey guys!" she said with a friendly smile. Good, hopefully that meant she didn't suspect anything funny.

Sam and Dean spun around, looking at her in surprise before trying to play it cool. "Sarah! Hey!" Sam greeted, offering her a smile.

"What are you doing here?"

"Ahh, we... we are leaving town, and you know, we came to say goodbye," Sam lied.

Dean walked over to them. "What are you talking about Sam, we're sticking around for at least another day or two," he said with a grin. Sam and I looked at Dean confused. Dean took his wallet out of his pocket and gave Sam a meaningful look. Ah, he had found it. Relief made my shoulders sag, knowing that he had his wallet back in his possession. "Oh, Sam. By the way, I'm gonna go ahead and give you that twenty dollars I owe you. I always forget, you know."

Sam gave Dean a disbelieving look, but took the cash that Dean held out to him. Dean turned to Sarah. "Well, we'll leave you two crazy kids alone. Lexi and I are gonna go do something... somewhere." He grabbed my hand, and without another word, I found myself being hauled away.

xxx

When Sam met us at the Impala, the first thing Dean and I noticed was that all the color was gone from his face. "Didn't want a second date?" Dean grinned.

"Dude, the painting is still there," Sam exclaimed as he got into the car. We followed suit, and I looked up at him in confusion.

"Huh? How's that possible?" I asked. Perhaps he had seen a different painting, mistaking it for the one we'd just burnt.

"I don't know. We burned the damn thing," Sam ran a hand through his hair, his eyes looking over at Dean, trying to make sense of it.

"Yeah, thank you captain obvious," Dean replied sarcastically. "All right, we just need to figure out another way to get rid of it. Any ideas?"

"Okay, all right. Well, um, in almost all the lore about haunted paintings, it's always the painting's subject that haunts 'em," Sam mused.

"Yeah, so we just need to figure out everything there is to know about that creepy-ass family and that creepy-ass painting. What were their names again?"

xxx

After Sam and Dean got some information on the family in the painting, we had gone back to the motel room and were now sitting around the table. "I'm telling you man, I'm sure of it," Sam argued. "The painting at the auction house, Dad is looking down. Painting here, Dad's looking out. The painting has changed, Dean."

I shivered. That meant the father in the painting was able to move. "All right," Dean sighed. "So, you think that Daddy dearest is trapped in the painting and is handing out Columbian neckties like he did with his family?"

"Well, yeah. It seems like it. But if his bones are already dusted, then how are we gonna stop him?"

"Did anything else change in the painting?" I asked. "We might have to go look."

"We gotta get back in and see that painting," Dean said. He stood up and threw himself onto the bed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Which is a good thing, 'cause you can get some more time to crush on your girlfriend."

"Dude, enough already," Sam snapped, sounding angry.

"What?" Dean looked over at him.

"What? Ever since we got here, you been trying to pimp me out to Sarah. Just back off, alright?" Sam ran a hand through his hair, his shoulders tense. I knew that Dean was wanting Sam to move on from his girlfriend Jess, but I doubted Sam was ready for that yet.

"Well, you like her, don't you?" In response to that, Sam threw his arms up and looked up at the ceiling in agitation. "Alright, you like her, she likes you, you're both consenting adults..."

"What's the point, Dean? We'll just leave. We always leave," Sam's frustration was growing, and I sincerely hoped they weren't going to start another argument.

"Well, I'm not talking about marriage, Sam."

"You know, I don't get it. What do you care if I hook up?"

"Cause then maybe you wouldn't be so cranky all the time." They stared at each other for a long moment, before Sam huffed and looked away. "You know, seriously Sam, this isn't about just hooking up, okay? I mean, I... I think that this Sarah girl could be good for you. And... I don't mean any disrespect but I'm sure this is about Jessica, right? Now I don't know what it's like to lose somebody like that... but... I would think that she would want you to be happy."

"Dean," I warned softly when I noticed how Sam's expression had softened, and tears were moistening his eyes.

Dean cast me a quick glance, but didn't acknowledge I'd said anything otherwise. "God forbid have fun once in a while. Wouldn't she?"

"Yeah, I know she would," Sam murmured softly. He gave a half smile, before sighing heavily. "Yeah, you're right. Part of this is about Jess. But not the main part."

"What's it about?"

Sam refused to answer the question. Dean lid back down again. "Well, we still gotta see that painting, which means you still gotta call Sarah, so..."

Sam picked up the phone and dialed the number. He held it up to his ear and after a few rings had gone through, he spoke up. "Sarah, hey, it's Sam. Hey, hi. Good. Good, yeah. Umm. What about you?"

Jeez that sounded awkward. Apparently, Dean thought so too, 'cause he opened one eye and peered over at Sam. Sarah said something into the phone. "Yeah good, good, really good," Sam replied. I slapped my hand to my forehead.

"Smooth..." Dean whispered, the corner of his lips twitching.

"So, ah, so listen. Me and my brother, were... uh... thinking that maybe we'd like to come back in and look at the painting again. I... I think maybe we are interested in buying it. What?!"

At the tone in Sam's voice, Dean and I snapped to attention. "Who'd you sell it to?" Dean rose up, listening closely. "Sarah, I need an address right now."

xxx

We drove up to Evelyn's house in a hurry, and we jumped out as soon as we parked. Sarah appeared from a car that was waiting in the driveway. "Sam what's happening?" she asked, voice thick with concern.

"I told you, you shouldn't have come," Sam said as he ran past her. I followed close behind my brothers as we ran up the stairs to the front porch.

Dean began banging on the door. "Hello? Anyone home?"

"You said Evelyn might be in danger, what sort of danger?" Sarah questioned. We ignored her.

"I can't knock this sucker down. I gotta pick it," Dean said, reaching into his pocket for his tools. He started to pick the locks, while Sam banged on the windows. They were covered by metal security bars.

"What are you guys, burglars?"

"No," I snapped, agitated with her presence. She was just going to get hurt. "You should stay in your car."

Dean managed to get the door open, and Sam and I quickly followed behind. "The hell I will," she rebuked. "Evelyn's a friend."

She rushed in after us, calling for her friend. We entered the lounge, and saw Evelyn sitting, her back towards us. My eyes looked over at the painting, and I jolted when I noticed Isaiah was now looking at his daughter.

"Evelyn? It's Sarah Blake... Are you alright?" Sarah asked, moving forward to touch Evelyn's shoulder.

"Sarah, don't. Sarah!" Sam said urgently.

Evelyn's head tipped back, showing us that her throat had been slashed. Sarah screamed, and I lurched back into Dean. Sam ushered Sarah out of the room, while Dean pulled me against his side and guided me out after them.

xxx

Later on, in the motel room, Dean was sitting at the table with laptop, while Sam stood pacing. I was over on one of the beds, trying not to think about the sight of that poor woman with her head almost cut off. What an awful way to die.

There was a sudden knock at the door, and I turned to see Sam open it. Sarah stormed past him and into the room. "Hey, you alright?" Sam asked softly.

"No, actually, I just lied to the cops and told them I went to Evelyn's alone, and found her like that," she sounded like she regretted that decision.

"Thank you," Sam murmured, relief evident on his face.

"Don't thank me," she snapped. "I'm about to call them right back if you don't tell me what the hell's going on. Who's killing these people?"

"What." Sam replied.

"What?" Sarah questioned, looking impatient.

"It's not 'who.' It's 'what' is killing these people." I cringed. Once Sarah knew, the innocence and naivety of not knowing about the supernatural would be lost. It was a high cost to pay. Sarah looked at Sam like he was insane. "Sarah, you saw that painting move."

"No... no... I was - I was seeing things. It's impossible." She didn't sound very convincing.

"Yeah well, welcome to our world," Dean added sarcastically.

"Sarah, I know this sounds crazy... but we think that that painting is haunted," Sam said carefully.

A weird sounding laugh escaped Sarah, as agitated tears appeared in her eyes. "You're joking." She stared between the three of us, but we just looked at her with serious expressions. "You're not joking. God, the guys I go out with."

I almost laughed at that, except the situation definitely didn't call for it. "Sarah, think about it," Sam said gently. "Evelyn, the Telesca's, they both had the painting. And there have been others before that. Wherever this thing goes, people die. And we're just trying to stop it, and that's the truth."

Sarah took a deep breath. "Then I guess you'd better show me. I'm coming with you."

"What? No. Sarah no, you should just go home. This stuff can get dangerous and... and I don't want you to get hurt."

"Look, you guys are probably crazy, but if you're right about this? Well me and my Dad sold that painting that might have got these people killed. Look I'm not saying I'm not scared because I am scared as hell, but... I'm not going to run and hid either."

Sarah strode to the door. "So, are we going or what?" Then she walked out, leaving us shell shocked.

"Sam?" Dean muttered. Sam looked across to where Dean was sitting. The older brother raised his finger to point out the door after Sarah. "Marry that girl."

I could only nod in agreement.

xxx

We went back to Evelyn's house, and this time Sam was picking the lock. "Ahhh... isn't this a crime scene?" Sarah asked nervously.

"You've already lied to the cops. What's another infraction?" Dean joked. As soon as Sam unlocked the door, we quickly moved inside and took the painting down from the wall to examine it. The portrait really freaked me out, especially since the man in it had been moving.

"Aren't you worried that it's... gonna kill us?" Sarah questioned. I almost laughed at the quiver in her voice, before I realized that I too have been scared on many hunts, and I would be lying if I said this one didn't freak me out.

"Nah, it seems to do its thing at night. I think we're alright in the daylight," Sam answered.

"Sam, check it out. The razor, it's closed in this one but it's open in that one," Dean murmured, comparing the picture in the book with the actual painting.

"What are you guys looking for?"

"Well, if the spirit's changing aspects of the painting, then it's doing so for a reason," Dean explained.

"Look," I exclaimed, squinting closer to the painting. "The painting in the painting."

"Looks like a crypt, or a mausoleum or something," Dean replied, looking at the small painting I was indicating too. He moved around and found a thick glass ashtray, which he used as a magnifying glass to look closer. "Merchant."

xxx

Heading to the third graveyard of the day, we began sifting through the headstones. "This is the third boneyard we've checked. I think this ghost is jerking us around," Dean grumbled.

"So, this is what you guys do for a living?" Sarah sounded skeptical of the idea. I had to agree, what kind of person chose to do this, and stay doing it for as long as our family has?

"Not exactly," Sam muttered. "We don't get paid."

"Over there!" Dean said, pointing to the mausoleum. We darted over, and I watched as Dean expertly broke the lock, and opened the door. As we entered, Sam and Dean pushed aside the cobwebs, revealing the name plates and four urns in front of little glass fronted boxes. Sarah looked into one of the cases, and I glanced in too, shuddering when I saw a creepy doll.

"Okay, that right there - is the creepiest thing I've ever seen," Sarah shivered.

"It was a... sort of tradition at the time. Whenever a child died sometimes they'd preserve the kid's favorite toy in a glass case, put it next to the headstone or crypt," Sam explained. I shivered when a breeze hit the back of my neck, causing the little hairs to rise.

"Notice anything strange in here?" Dean asked, looking around.

"Ah... where do I start?" Sarah answered.

Sam chuckled quietly, looking at her. Dean rolled his eyes. "No, that's not what I mean. Look at the urns."

"There are only four," I replied.

"Yeah. Mom and the three kids. Daddy dearest isn't here."

"So, where is he?" Sam asked.

xxx

Dean and I approached Sam and Sarah after sifting through some records to find out what happened to the father's body. "Are we interrupting something?" Dean smirked, as we noticed the strange tension in the air between the two.

"No," Sam rushed to say.

"Not at all," Sarah added almost at the same time.

"Yeah," I scoffed. Dean smirked at me.

"So, what'd you get?" Sam asked, wanting to change the subject.

"Paydirt. Apparently, the surviving relatives of the Merchant family were so ashamed of Isaiah that they didn't want him interred with the rest of the family. So, they handed him over to the county, the county gave him a pauper's funeral. Economy style. Turns out he wasn't cremated; he was buried in a pine box."

"So, there are bones to burn," Sam realised.

"There are bones to burn," Dean nodded.

"Tell me you know where." Dean and I smirked in response.

xxx

That night, we found the grave and Sam and Dean got to work digging it out, while Sarah and I held flashlights so they could see what they were doing. After a while, Sam crawled out of the hole to stand next to Sarah.

"You guys seem to be uncomfortably comfortable with this," Sarah mused. I chuckled at that statement.

"Well, ah, this isn't exactly the first grave we've dug. Still think I'm a catch?" Sam asked sheepishly. Sarah laughed in response, only to be interrupted when Dean's shovel banged against something hard.

"Think I've got something," he exclaimed. Reaching down, he pried open the coffin lid, revealing the old decaying body. Dean covered the body in salt, before Sam doused it in kerosene. I stood watching with Sarah as Dean lit a match. "You've been a real pain in the ass Isaiah. Good riddance."

He threw the match in on top of the body, and we all stood watch together as it burned.

xxx

We pulled up out front of Evelyn's house, and Sam opened up the passenger door. "Keep the motor running," he said.

"I thought the painting was harmless now?" Sarah sounded worried.

"Better safe than sorry. We're gonna bury the sucker."

"I'm going with you," Sarah said, climbing out of the car.

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

There was such palpable tension, I rolled my eyes in response, sharing a look with Dean in the rear-view mirror.

"Hey! Hey, hey!" Dean whispered, calling Sam back. "We'll stay here, you go make your move."

Sam scoffed and shut the car door. "Dude! I'm serious!" Dean exclaimed, and I laughed at him, before stretching and yawning in the backseat. It had been a long day, and I was ready for the hunt to be over so we could all sleep.

"Do you think that burying it will keep people safe?" I asked.

"Oh yeah," Dean reassured me. "Isaiah is definitely tied to that painting, so if it's buried way down, no one will encounter it."

"DEAN!" I shouted when the front door slammed on its own. Dean saw too, and we flung ourselves out of the Impala and up the stairs. We began shoving at the door.

"Dean! Hey! Is that you?" Sam called, though it sounded really muffled through the thick front door.

"Sammy, you alright?" Dean hollered back.

Dean's cell rang, and he picked it up swiftly. "Tell me you slammed the front door," Dean exclaimed. I could hear Sam's voice saying something through the door, but I couldn't make it out. "Girl? What girl?"

Sam said something else, as a look of realization settled over Dean's face. "Wasn't the Dad looking down at her? Maybe he was trying to warn us." Another moment passed. "Well, I'm trying to pick the lock; the door won't budge."

Dean's face turned upwards. "Okay genius, let me just grab my battering ram... Well, you're just gonna have to hold it off until I figure something out. Get some salt or iron." Dean groaned as he continued holding the phone up to his ear and began looking around for another entrance.

"Is he gonna be alright?" I asked, looking up at Dean with wide eyes.

His gaze softened as he looked down at me. "We'll get him out, sweetheart."

After a long moment, Dean spoke up into the phone. "Sammy, you ok?... How are we gonna waste her?" Sam said something else. I felt like my heart was going to explode. I didn't like not knowing what was going on inside the house, and whether or not Sam and Sarah were alright. "Then how's she still around?... The Mausoleum!"

Dean hung up the phone and grabbed my hand, quickly towing me down and towards the Impala. I barely even had my door shut before we were speeding off. "What's going on? Why are we going back to the Mausoleum?" I asked frantically.

"The doll," Dean replied. "It's made with the kid's hair."

"Eww," I said automatically. "That's gross and creepy."

"I agree 100% sweetheart," Dean nodded, driving double the speed limit back towards the graveyard. As we pulled up, Dean and I lunged out of the Impala and straight into the mausoleum. He pounded on the glass case with the butt of his gun, before turning his gun around.

"Stand back Lexi, and cover your face," Dean said, raising his left hand up to shield his own. I did as he said, right before he fired into the glass case. Reaching in, he grabbed the doll.

He pulled out his lighter, and tried to get it to catch. "Come on, come on!" he murmured. Finally, it caught and he held it under the doll's hair, watching as it began to smoke and then burn. Dropping the doll, Dean pulled out his cell.

"Sam, you good?" he asked. The relief on Dean's face was noticeable, and I sagged in relief as well. They were alright.

xxx

Early in the morning, after we'd dropped Sarah off at her house, we made it back to the motel. I was so tired, I'd almost fallen asleep leaning against Sam in the front seat, squished between him and Dean.

As we parked out front, I smiled when Sam scooped me up and carried me into the motel. "Honey, you need to change out of those dirty clothes," he said, indicating to my graveyard-dirt covered clothes.

I yawned widely as he put me down gently. I blindly grabbed my bag from him and fished out a pair of pajamas. After I used the bathroom, I changed into them quickly, before moving to collapse on the bed, face mashed into the pillow. The sound of Dean's chuckle met my ears, before I felt him tuck me in under the covers. I was asleep before he'd even finished.

xxx

The next day, we went back to the auction house. We all stood watching at the painting was crated up. Dean held up some papers. "This was archived in the county records. The Merchant's adopted daughter Melanie. Know why she was up for adoption? 'Cause her real family was murdered in their beds," he explained.

"She killed them?" Sarah asked quietly.

"Yeah. Who'd suspect her? Sweet little girl. So, then she kills Isaiah and his family. The old man takes the blame. His spirit's been trying to warn people ever since." I shivered at that. What an awful thing, to be blamed for the murder of your own family.

"So, where's this one go?" A worker asked, indicating to the crated painting.

"Take it out back and burn it," Sarah said bluntly. We all turned to look at her in shock.

"I'm serious guys. Thanks." She turned to look at us. "So, why'd the girl do it?"

"Killing others? Killing herself? Some people are just born tortured. So, when they die, their spirits are just as dark," Sam explained.

"Maybe. I don't really care. It's over, we move on," Dean replied nonchalantly, putting an arm over my shoulder.

"Ahh... I guess this means you're leaving," Sarah realised.

Sam turned to give Dean a look. "Let's go wait in the car, Dean," I grinned, tugging on his sleeve. "See you Sarah!"

Dean looked between the two adults for a moment, before nodding and walking away. "I'm the one that burned the doll, destroyed the spirit, but don't thank me or anything," Dean grumbled.

I chuckled and wrapped my arms around his waist. "You did good, kid," I said seriously to Dean.

He looked down at me in shock, before he broke out in a fit of laughter. After he finally caught his breath, he scooped me up and tossed me over his shoulder, earning a squeal from me. "Good one, sweetheart," he smirked.

Once at the Impala, we stood leaning against the car, waiting for Sam. We watched as Sam knocked on the door once it had shut, and as soon as Sarah opened it again, he stepped in and kissed her.

"That's my boy," Dean said with a smile, while I wrinkled my nose and looked away. Inside, I was happy for Sammy. He deserved to have some happiness in his life.


End file.
